Clifford Witter was a dance instructor at the Arthur Murray Dance Studios in Cleveland. As a condition of employment, he signed a contract not to work for a competitor. Subsequently, he was hired by the Fred Astaire Dancing Studios, where he taught the method that he had learned at Arthur Murray. Arthur Murray sued to enforce the noncompete contract. What would be the result? What additional information, if any, would you need to know to decide the case?

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Iyana Blair

16 June, 17:25

Clifford Witter was a dance instructor at the Arthur Murray Dance Studios in Cleveland. As a condition of employment, he signed a contract not to work for a competitor. Subsequently, he was hired by the Fred Astaire Dancing Studios, where he taught the method that he had learned at Arthur Murray. Arthur Murray sued to enforce the noncompete contract. What would be the result? What additional information, if any, would you need to know to decide the case?

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Harry James · Answer 1

What would be the result? What additional information, if any, would you need to know to decide the case?

To determine who would win this case, we need to know two things:

The non-compete agreement was supposed to last how many years, e. g. 1 or 2 years, maybe 3? When did Clifford Witter stopped working for Arthur Murray Dance Studios and when did he started to work for Fred Astaire Dancing Studios?

Most states consider non-compete agreements valid only if they last up to 2 or 3 years at most (which is considered a reasonable time). If Clifford started to work at Fred Astaire before the non-compete clause was over (assuming it lasted a reasonable time) then Arthur Murray would win. But if Clifford started to work at Fred Astaire after the non-compete clause was over, then there is nothing Arthur Murray can do to win the case.