Florida Business Litigation Lawyer Blog

A party to a non-compete agreement that was breached by the employer, may preempt its enforcement by seeking a declaratory judgment. To be effective, the declaratory action must include all parties who have a right to enforce the non-compete agreement. “[B]efore any proceeding for declaratory relief is entertained all persons who have an ‘actual, present,…

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was intended to allow “qualified employees” working for covered employers to be permitted unpaid medical leave arising from the employee or the employee’s family’s serious health conditions. Sometimes, an employee who is terminated for other reasons will claim that the termination was unlawful retaliation for seeking benefits under…

Florida businesses may seek rescission of a contract in certain circumstances when the contract was entered into because of fraud, accident, or a mistake of facts. To preserve the legal right to invoke the remedy of rescission, when the basis for rescission is discover must immediately reject any further benefits under the contract and must…

Trade secrets and confidential information can lose protection under the Florida Uniform Trade Secrets Act (FUTSA) when they are disclosed to third parties. One way to maintain protection of this information under FUTSA, is by entering into a confidentiality agreement with the third parties that will receive the information. When trade secrets or confidential information…

The Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) provides a means for customers to sue a business which deceptively charges additional fees. When a business conducts itself in an unlawful, unfair, or deceptive manner to its own customers, the business’ competitor may also assert a FDUTPA claim for the harm that these practices indirectly…

Separation agreements commonly include releases of liability for employers and employees to avoid litigation for any claims that may have been asserted by either party. The presence of a release in the separation agreement does not necessarily relieve the employee of non-compete, non-solicitation, and confidentiality clauses from a prior agreement. Peter Mavrick is a Fort…

For an employer to be liable for retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), the employee must show the adverse action (the decision to terminate) was made because of the employee’s protected activity (the submission of discrimination complaint). Employers may prevail against these retaliation claims by showing that the…

Another article discusses how a business can lawfully sue a competitor under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) when the competitor issues deceptive charges against its own customers. Several recent cases have explained that whether a charge is unlawfully deceptive is highly dependent on the exact language of the charge. Minor nuances…

Companies are fictional entities that can only act through their agents. So logically, if a company is bound by a non-compete agreement, then it may also be enforced against the company’s officers. In other words, if a signatory company’s officer opens up a new company for the purpose of competing in a way that violates…

Employees who are terminated because of their poor performance or conduct sometimes accuse their former employers of employment discrimination. Employment discrimination claims can be based on a variety of “protected categories,” such as race, national origin, sex, or age discrimination. Such claims are most commonly asserted under federal law (such as Title VII of the…