Summary
In Strehlow v. Legend Equities Corp., 727 So.2d 1076 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999), the Fourth District relied on Schweiger and Johnston in reversing a temporary injunction enforcing nonsolicitation clauses of the appellants' sales representative contracts, signed in 1989 "[w]hen... they worked for a different company."
Summary of this case from Corporate Express Office Prod. v. PhillipsOpinion
No. 98-4092
Opinion filed February 24, 1999
Appeal of a non-final order from the Circuit Court, Palm Beach County; Lucy Chernow Brown, Judge; L.T. No. 98-9914-AF.
Glenn D. Kelley of Kelley Warren, P.A., West Palm Beach, for appellants.
Richard L. Martens, John D. Boykin and Jason S. Haselkorn of Boose Casey Ciklin Lubitz Martens McBane O'Connell, West Palm Beach, for appellee.
We reverse a temporary injunction that enforces the non-solicitation clauses of the appellants' sales representative contracts. When the appellants signed the contracts in 1989, they worked for a different company. The contracts were assigned to the appellee when it purchased the business. The appellants never consented to the assignment.
Under Florida law, a contract for personal services is not assignable absent consent, and a covenant that restricts competition after termination of such a contract is unenforceable by the assignee unless the party who is burdened by the restriction agrees. See Johnston v. Dockside Fueling of No. America, Inc., 658 So.2d 618 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995); Schweiger v. Hoch, 223 So.2d 557 (Fla. 4th DCA 1969). We decline to revisit Schweiger as the appellee asks. We find the reasoning and the result in that case to be sound.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
FARMER, GROSS and HAZOURI, JJ., concur.