Restrictive covenants and trade secrets — Missouri

There are at least four valid and conflicting concerns at issue in the law of restrictive covenant (commonly referred to as “non-compete”) agreements:

1. The employer needs to be able to engage a highly trained workforce to be competitive and profitable, without fear that the employee will use the employer’s business secrets against it or steal its customers, vendors, or suppliers after leaving employment.
2. The employee must be mobile in order to provide for his or her family and to advance his or her career in an ever-changing marketplace. This mobility is dependent upon the ability of the employee to take his or her increasing skills and put them to work from one employer to the next.
3. The law favors the freedom of parties to value their respective interests in negotiated contracts.
4. Contracts in restraint of trade are unlawful

In the absence of a restrictive covenant in an employment agreement, a company’s former employees are generally free to immediately go to work for a competitor, to solicit their former employer’s customers and employees, and to disclose confidential information that does not rise...

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