Abstract
The enforceability of a post-employment restrictive covenant with an at-will employee encompasses a number of concerns for and against enforcement. Illinois courts have weighed these concerns and appropriately determined that these restrictive covenants are enforceable if there is adequate consideration. Accordingly, a fact-intensive approach is typically used to determine whether adequate consideration exists to enforce the covenant. The court in Brown and Brown, Inc. v. Mudron, however, reduced the ‘adequacy of consideration’ inquiry to a numerical formula that was both unsupported by Illinois case law and an inappropriate balancing of employee and employer interests. While this Casenote agrees that the Brown court correctly noted that post-employment restrictive covenants are enforceable if there is adequate consideration, it argues that the court incorrectly weighed the appropriate concerns in finding a lack of consideration in this case. The author notes that the numerical approach employed by Brown inappropriately limits an employer’s ability to use restrictive covenants to protect their legitimate business interests.
Recommended Citation
Timothy J. O'Hern,
Post-Employment Restrictive Covenants: Illusory in Illinois? Addressing the Implications of Brown and Brown, Inc. v. Mudron, 887 N.E.2d 437 (Ill. App. Ct. 2008),
34
S. Ill. U. L.J.
227
(2009).
Available at:
https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/siulj/vol34/iss1/8