Declaratory Judgments

Georgia Federal Court Enjoins Enforcement of Covenant Not to Compete Against Former Employee

December 27, 2012 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

In a dispute over the enforcement of two restrictive covenants in an employment contract, a federal court in Georgia granted a preliminary injunction preventing their enforcement. The plaintiff in Moorad v. Affordable Interior Systems, LLC filed a declaratory judgment action against his former employer to have the restrictive covenants declared unenforceable under Georgia law. The court considered the plaintiff’s request for an injunction and the defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and ruled for the plaintiff on both.

The plaintiff, David Moorad, worked for the defendant, Affordable Interior Systems (AIS), from 2004 to May 2011 as the Vice President of Sales for Government Services Administration (GSA). Moorad’s employer asked him to sign an amended contract containing two restrictive covenants, a non-competition agreement and a non-solicitation agreement. According to the court’s ruling, the defendant implied that Moorad could lose his job if he refused to sign the new contract. The non-competition covenant stated that, upon termination or departure from AIS, Moorad could not work, for a period of twenty-four months, in office furniture sales or manufacturing. The clause explicitly described the geographic scope of the restriction as the entire United States. The non-solicitation clause purported to prohibit Moorad from soliciting any customers of AIS within the same twenty-four month period, including anyone who had been a customer in the prior twelve months.

Appellate Court Rules that Adding an Arbitration Clause to an Insurance Agreement Does Not Constitute a Change in Coverage under Illinois Law

November 10, 2011 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

Workers’ compensation insurance is a necessary part of doing business for many companies, so the attorneys at Lubin Austermuehle are always on the lookout for emerging legal issues in that area. Our Naperville business attorneys recently discovered a decision rendered by the Appellate Court of Illinois that is significant for current and potential clients who have workers’ compensation insurance agreements that contain an arbitration clause.

All-American Roofing, Inc. v. Zurich American Insurance Company pits Plaintiff All-American Roofing against its Defendant insurer, Zurich American in a lawsuit that arose from alleged unpaid deductibles and retrospective insurance premiums. The five-year insurance agreement was based upon retrospectively rated premiums that required Plaintiff to reimburse Defendant after the end of a policy year for claims that arose during that year. After the fourth year, the policy exchanged the retrospectively rated premiums for a larger deductible. The dispute began when Defendant summoned Plaintiff to arbitration regarding the aforementioned unpaid sums pursuant to a mandatory arbitration clause contained within the parties’ agreement. In response to the arbitration summons, All-American Roofing filed for declaratory judgment along with claims for breach of contract, fraud, and related causes of action. Plaintiff requested that the trial court declare that the mandatory arbitration clause was unenforceable and sought damages for their other claims. The trial court stayed the arbitration, dismissed most of Plaintiffs claims through summary judgment and ordered the parties to arbitrate the remaining issues. Plaintiff then appealed the trial court’s rulings regarding the arbitration clause, contract, and fraud claims.

On appeal, Plaintiff argued that the arbitration clause was added to their policy after the first year of coverage and that the clause constituted a material alteration to the policy’s coverage. Furthermore, Plaintiff argued that the Illinois Insurance Code required Defendant to give notice that it was not renewing the original coverage. Because Defendant failed to give such notice, the arbitration clause did not legally take effect. The Appellate Court disagreed, stating that the addition of an arbitration clause did not constitute a change in coverage, and cited the plain language of the statute for their reasoning. The Court went on to hold that the agreements and subsequent addenda to it for the first two years were valid because the parties lawfully entered into the agreements and there was sufficient consideration on both sides. The Court also upheld the trial courts granting of Defendant’s motion for summary judgment on Plaintiff’s fraud claim because there was not sufficient evidence in the record of fraud nor had Plaintiffs identified any material issue regarding Defendant’s alleged violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. The Court held that the arbitration clause was not operative for the final two year of the agreement because Plaintiffs never signed the amended policy documents for those years. The Appellate Court reversed the trial court on this issue because they disagreed with the trial court’s ruling that Plaintiff’s payment and acceptance of coverage signified acceptance of the new terms.

All-American Roofing, Inc. v. Zurich American Insurance Company provides a valuable lesson to business owners who utilize arbitration clauses in their contracts. Namely, this case tells us to read the fine print in any contract before signing it, as you may be getting more (or less, depending on your point of view) than you originally bargained for.

llinois Appellate Court Rules that a Relocation Provision in a Commercial Lease Must Abide by State Regulations

October 20, 2011 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

Earlier this year, the Appellate Court of Illinois handed down an opinion that has implications for businesses with leased premises. Our Aurora business attorneys found Bright Horizons Children’s Centers LLC v. Riverway Midwest LLC, which is a dispute regarding a commercial lease that was initially filed in Cook County.

Bright Horizons is a company that operates day care facilities across the state of Illinois. The company entered into a ten year commercial lease agreement with Riverway for a property in Rosemont, Illinois. The lease agreement contained restrictive language allowed for the building to only be used for a child-care center. The agreement also contained a relocation provision which gave Riverway the right to relocate Bright Horizons, upon 180 day written notice, to a different property of equal quantity and quality to the original premises. The dispute between these two parties arose when Riverway sought to invoke the relocation clause less than one year into the lease.

Riverway attempted to exercise the relocation provision on three occasions. The first attempt was unsuccessful because the alternative premises allegedly presented to Bright Horizons did not meet the requirements of the lease agreement. Bright Horizons accepted the second space offered by Riverway, but Riverway withdrew their notice before renovating the new facilities to meet the requirements of the lease. Riverway then proposed a third relocation premises, and allegedly informed Bright Horizons that if they were unable to agree on an alternative space, Riverway would terminate the lease in 180 days from the date of the notice. This third property allegedly ran afoul of state licensing standards for child care facilities and the Illinois Administrative Code. Bright Horizons informed Riverway that the third property did not meet Illinois’ licensing standards and could not be legally used as a child care facility. In response, Riverway informed Bright Horizons that they were in default of the lease and that Bright Horizons could cure their default by relocating to the third alternative premises.

Bright Horizons then filed for declaratory judgment requesting that the trial court find: 1) that they were not in breach of the lease, 2) that Riverway could not terminate the lease, and 3) that Riverway had failed to properly exercise the relocation clause of the lease agreement. Bright Horizons then filed for summary judgment on these issues, which was granted by the trial court. Riverway then appealed the trial court’s ruling. On appeal the Appellate Court agreed with the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Bright Horizons. In so ruling, the Court held that the lease allowed for one permitted use of the premises and required that Bright Horizons comply with all laws and regulations, including the state child-care licensing standards. The Court held that Bright Horizons’ relocation to the proffered space would violate state regulations and cause Bright Horizons to be in breach of the lease due to their inability to operate a child-care. As such, the Court affirmed the ruling of the trial court granting summary judgment in favor of Bright Horizons.

Developer’s Lawsuit Accuses Grocery Chain of Using ‘Dirty Tricks’ to Keep Wal-Mart Out of Town

September 30, 2010 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

Our Illinois business and commercial emergency attorneys were interested to read an article about a lawsuit suggesting corporate “dirty tricks” by the parent company of the Jewel-Osco chain of grocery stores. Rubloff Development Group Inc., a commercial real estate developer, made that accusation in a lawsuit filed in Chicago federal court in June. According to the Chicago Tribune’s Chicago Breaking Business blog, Rubloff believes Jewel-Osco hired Saint Consulting, a Massachusetts company, in secret to “harass and interfere” with a shopping center Rubloff was trying to develop in Munedelin, Ill., with a Wal-Mart as its “anchor.” Rubloff and other developers are seeking a declaratory judgment that documents in its possession do not contain confidential trade secrets belonging to Saint, as Saint has alleged.

According to Rubloff’s complaint (PDF), file in late June, Rubloff has documents it believes show that Jewel-Osco “secretly retained” Saint to delay or stop development of shopping centers slated to contain Wal-Mart stores, which might compete with Jewel-Osco. The complaint alleges that Saint is responsible for “false statements and sham litigation” against several of the plaintiffs’ developments, particularly the one in Mundelin. Sometimes, this was enough to make the Wal-Mart pull out, causing tens of millions of dollars in costs to the developers, it says. Rubloff claims it sent SuperValu a letter in early May with these accusations. Although that letter did not name Saint and was not sent to Saint, the complaint said, Saint responded a week later with a threat to sue Rubloff for “wrongful possession of … confidential, proprietary business information.”
Rubloff and its co-plaintiffs responded with this lawsuit. In it, they ask the court for a declaratory judgment that the information at issue is not privileged, confidential or trade secrets. They also ask the court to enjoin the defendants from spoiling any evidence, something they claim the defendants do routinely, and request damages for any evidence already spoiled. If permitted to submit the controversial information to the court under seal, they say they can raise claims of racketeering, tortious interference with business opportunities, fraud, antitrust claims and more, with tens of millions in potential damages.

As Chicago business emergency lawyers, we believe a declaratory judgment is a smart way for Rubloff and the other plaintiffs to strike first and avoid potentially damaging litigation in Massachusetts. A declaratory judgment is a court order declaring the legal relationships and obligations between the parties. In this case, it is likely to be a judgment declaring whether the documents at issue are trade secrets that deserve protection under Illinois law. If Saint is bluffing about this, filing for a declaratory judgment allows Rubloff to establish that fact without fighting a frivolous lawsuit, and in its own home court rather than halfway across the United States. A declaratory judgment in Rubloff’s favor would also allow the developer to go forward with its own business lawsuit against Saint and Jewel-Osco.

Court Rules Illinois Courts Should Hear Contract Dispute Despite Case in New York

September 28, 2010 | Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle

Our Chicago business attorneys were interested to note a ruling establishing that an Illinois venue is correct in a case of dueling lawsuits between companies working in Illinois and New York. In Whittmanhart, Inc. v. CA, Inc. and Niku LLC, No. 1-09-3136 (Ill. 1st June 22, 2010), Whittmanhart bought software from CA and its wholly owned subsidiary, Niku, in 2006 and entered into an end-user license agreement. They later entered into a statement of work saying CA employees would help Whittmanhart implement and develop the software, in exchange for an hourly fee and expenses. CA invoiced Whittmanhart several times during the project, but claims no invoices were ever paid. Whittmanhart claims CA and Niku breached their own contract by failing to deliver a fully functioning software system by a specified date and failing to invoice monthly, as specified.

CA and Niku sued Whittmanhart in New York federal court Nov. 12, 2008 for breach of contract and account stated. They sought payment of the invoices, plus attorney fees and court costs. In December of that year, Whittmanhart told the court it would move to dismiss for lack of federal diversity jurisdiction, as all three companies are Delaware citizens. On the same day, CA and Niku filed a claim in New York state court. Two hours later, they voluntarily dismissed the federal case. About 40 minutes later, but in a different time zone, Whittmanhart filed a lawsuit against CA and Niku in Cook County trial court, creating dueling lawsuits. That claim asks for financial damages, attorney fees and court costs and a declaratory judgment that it did not owe further money to CA and Niku.

Whittmanhart did not answer the New York state complaint and CA moved for default judgment. Whittmanhart then argued that it had not been properly served and successfully moved to dismiss. CA then filed an identical claim in New York state court, which Whittmanhart moved to dismiss on the grounds that the Illinois action was pending and on forum non conveniens. This was denied. CA later moved to dismiss the Illinois action on the grounds that New York was considering the same claim, and this motion was granted. Whittmanhart appealed to the First District Court of Appeal.

In its analysis, the First started by dismissing arguments made by CA and Niku based on things that happened after the trial court made its decision. The court then acknowledged that the lawsuits in both states had identical parties and were based on the same contracts — the statement of work and end-user license agreement. Those contracts were written with reference to other states’ laws. But this by itself was not enough to dismiss the claim, the court said; courts may still allow parallel claims to go forward according to their judgment. “Illinois is clearly the more logical forum for this dispute,” the First wrote, noting that much of the disputed work took place in Cook County and that the Illinois action was the first properly filed claim.

Furthermore, Whittmanhart’s Illinois action has a claim for monetary damages that was not made in New York, the court noted, meaning there was a better chance of complete resolution in Illinois. And if Whittmanhart were to file a counterclaim in New York, it could proceed independently of a decision in favor of CA. That means res judicata would not completely bar the Illinois action. For those reasons, the First found that the trial court had abused its discretion. It reversed the decision and remanded the case to Cook County trial court.