{"id":588,"date":"2010-05-24T14:49:41","date_gmt":"2010-05-24T14:49:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/declaratory-judgment-action-regarding-restrictive-covenants\/"},"modified":"2010-05-24T14:49:41","modified_gmt":"2010-05-24T14:49:41","slug":"declaratory-judgment-action-regarding-restrictive-covenants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/declaratory-judgment-action-regarding-restrictive-covenants\/","title":{"rendered":"Declaratory Judgment Action Regarding Restrictive Covenants in Nike Employment Agreement Transferred to District of Oregon Pursuant to Federal First-Filed Rule"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Woo v. Nike, Inc.<\/em>, Civil Action No. 1:10-CV-1018-RWS, 2010 WL 1565526 (N.D. Ga. April 19, 2010), demonstrates the application of the first-filed rule.\u00a0 This doctrine frequently arises in federal court when an employer and a former employee each file separate lawsuits in different jurisdictions concerning the former employee\u2019s restrictive covenants.\u00a0 The employee and former employer are both likely selecting the jurisdictions in which they filed suit to seek out or to avoid favorable or unfavorable restrictive covenants law.\u00a0 When such parallel litigation occurs, the federal court will often be asked to transfer the second-filed lawsuit to the \u201cfirst-filed\u201d jurisdiction.<\/p>\n<p>Woo was an employee of Nike and had signed an employment agreement containing a non-competition clause.\u00a0 She sought to leave her employment and to accept a position with Nfinity Products and Services, Inc. (\u201cNfinity\u201d), a Georgia corporation.\u00a0 On the day she announced her departure from Nike, Nike filed a Complaint against her and Nfinity in the Circuit Court of the State of Oregon and for the County of Washington.\u00a0 Woo and Nfinity removed that lawsuit to the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly thereafter, Woo and Nfinity filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of Gwinnett County, Georgia.\u00a0 Their lawsuit sought a temporary restraining order against Nike to preclude Nike from enforcing the non-competition covenant in Woo\u2019s employment agreement, on the grounds that it was overly broad and unenforceable under Georgia law.\u00a0 Nike removed that action to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.\u00a0 Nike then requested the Court transfer the case to the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.\u00a0 Because the Oregon lawsuit was the \u201cfirst-filed\u201d, Judge Story of the Northern District of Georgia applied the first-filed rule and transferred the case to the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. Judge Story also deferred ruling on Woo and Nfinity\u2019s request for a temporary restraining order until after the case was transferred.\u00a0 Thus, the federal court in Oregon rather than a Georgia court will rule on the enforceability of Woo\u2019s restrictive covenants.\u00a0 Whether Woo can convince the Oregon court to apply Georgia law to invalidate the covenants remains to be seen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Woo v. Nike, Inc., Civil Action No. 1:10-CV-1018-RWS, 2010 WL 1565526 (N.D. Ga. April 19, 2010), demonstrates the application of the first-filed rule.\u00a0 This doctrine frequently arises in federal court when an employer and a former employee each file separate lawsuits in different jurisdictions concerning the former employee\u2019s restrictive covenants.\u00a0 The employee and former employer [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mo_disable_npp":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,9],"tags":[25,16],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Action Regarding Restrictive Covenants in Nike Employment Agreement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Declaratory Judgment Action Regarding Restrictive Covenants in Nike Employment Agreement Transferred to District of Oregon.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/declaratory-judgment-action-regarding-restrictive-covenants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Action Regarding Restrictive Covenants in Nike Employment Agreement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Declaratory Judgment Action Regarding Restrictive Covenants in Nike Employment Agreement Transferred to District of Oregon.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/declaratory-judgment-action-regarding-restrictive-covenants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Berman Fink Van Horn P.C.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-05-24T14:49:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Benjamin Fink\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Benjamin Fink\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/declaratory-judgment-action-regarding-restrictive-covenants\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/declaratory-judgment-action-regarding-restrictive-covenants\/\",\"name\":\"Action Regarding Restrictive Covenants in Nike Employment Agreement\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-05-24T14:49:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-05-24T14:49:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/90455044f3f03e0d44ed8c0925a66ff5\"},\"description\":\"Declaratory Judgment Action Regarding Restrictive Covenants in Nike Employment Agreement Transferred to District of Oregon.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/declaratory-judgment-action-regarding-restrictive-covenants\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/declaratory-judgment-action-regarding-restrictive-covenants\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/declaratory-judgment-action-regarding-restrictive-covenants\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Declaratory Judgment Action Regarding Restrictive Covenants in Nike Employment Agreement Transferred to District of Oregon Pursuant to Federal First-Filed Rule\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/\",\"name\":\"Berman Fink Van Horn P.C.\",\"description\":\"A Business Law Firm In Atlanta\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/90455044f3f03e0d44ed8c0925a66ff5\",\"name\":\"Benjamin Fink\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Benjamin Fink\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/author\/benjamin-fink\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Action Regarding Restrictive Covenants in Nike Employment Agreement","description":"Declaratory Judgment Action Regarding Restrictive Covenants in Nike Employment Agreement Transferred to District of Oregon.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/declaratory-judgment-action-regarding-restrictive-covenants\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Action Regarding Restrictive Covenants in Nike Employment Agreement","og_description":"Declaratory Judgment Action Regarding Restrictive Covenants in Nike Employment Agreement Transferred to District of Oregon.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/declaratory-judgment-action-regarding-restrictive-covenants\/","og_site_name":"Berman Fink Van Horn P.C.","article_published_time":"2010-05-24T14:49:41+00:00","author":"Benjamin Fink","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Benjamin Fink","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/declaratory-judgment-action-regarding-restrictive-covenants\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/declaratory-judgment-action-regarding-restrictive-covenants\/","name":"Action Regarding Restrictive Covenants in Nike Employment Agreement","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-05-24T14:49:41+00:00","dateModified":"2010-05-24T14:49:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/90455044f3f03e0d44ed8c0925a66ff5"},"description":"Declaratory Judgment Action Regarding Restrictive Covenants in Nike Employment Agreement Transferred to District of Oregon.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/declaratory-judgment-action-regarding-restrictive-covenants\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/declaratory-judgment-action-regarding-restrictive-covenants\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/declaratory-judgment-action-regarding-restrictive-covenants\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Declaratory Judgment Action Regarding Restrictive Covenants in Nike Employment Agreement Transferred to District of Oregon Pursuant to Federal First-Filed Rule"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/","name":"Berman Fink Van Horn P.C.","description":"A Business Law Firm In Atlanta","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/90455044f3f03e0d44ed8c0925a66ff5","name":"Benjamin Fink","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Benjamin Fink"},"url":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/author\/benjamin-fink\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bfvlaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}