Reference no: EM131473288

Question: Podiatrist Kenneth Krueger was employed by Central Indiana Podiatry, PC (CIP) from 1996 to 2005, under a series of employment agreements that were renewed every year or two. Each agreement restricted Krueger, for a period of two years after leaving CIP's employ, from revealing the names of patients, contacting patients, or soliciting CIP employees. The agreements also prohibited Krueger from practicing podiatry for two years within fourteen listed central Indiana counties, and "any other county where CIP maintained an office" during the time of the agreements, or any county adjacent thereto. CIP had offices in two unlisted counties, and another 27 counties were adjacent to these sixteen, making a total of 43 counties in which Krueger's activities were restricted. (Essentially the agreement covered the central half of Indiana.)

In the last two years of his employ with CIP, Krueger practiced in three counties- Marion, Tippecanoe, and Howard. Krueger was terminated by CIP in 2005, and went to work for Meridian Health Group, PC two months later. Meridian was located in Hamilton county, which was one of the counties listed in Krueger's noncompete agreement and which was immediately north of Marion County. Krueger provided a copy of the CIP patient list to Meridian and mailed a letter to CIP patients announcing his new employment with Meridian in a location "approximately 10 minutes" from Krueger's previous office. When Meridian sought an injunction against Krueger, Krueger argued that the noncompete agreement was not reasonable in its terms. Was the noncompete agreement reasonable in its time limits? Was it reasonable in its geographic scope? If the court finds that any of the terms were unreasonable, what remedies can the court offer?