NEW ORLEANS – Two medical device salesmen are challenging their non-compete agreement with their former employer.
Stephen L. Parrish and Kirk Wells filed a lawsuit on Feb. 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against Depuy Synthes Sales Inc., claiming that their non-compete agreements with the company violates Louisiana law and are unenforceable.
Parrish asserts that he began working for a predecessor of the defendant, DePuy Spine, in January 2012, and carried his duties with defendant up through Feb. 19. Wells attests that he began working for the defendant as a sales representative on March 2012. They both assert that their work with the defendant took place within the Orleans Parish with some work in St. Tammany Parish and Jefferson Parish.
They both assert that both of their non-compete agreements do not specifically address where they could not work. The plaintiffs claim to have terminated their work relationship with defendant on Feb. 19 and accepted employment with NuVasive, a competitor of defendant. Wells and Parrish claim that since their non-compete did not specify the parishes and/or municipalities in which they are refrained from working, they agreement is therefore null and unenforceable.
They are asking the court to declare the agreements to be null and void, grant a speedy hearing, and any other relief deemed just by the court. They are represented by Brent A. Talbot, H. Michael Bush, Sarah Voorhies Myers, and Amy L. McIntire of Chaffe McCall LLC in New Orleans.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Case number 2:16-cv-01436-MCLF-KWR