Question

Alatan owns a building supply store in Russ County. His trade extends throughout River City, the largest city in Russ County, but not beyond the county limits. He sells his store to Hilary and, as part of the transaction, Alatan agrees not to engage in the same type of business anywhere in River City for a period of four (4) years. In this case:
a) The geographic restraint is reasonable.
b) This agreement is unreasonable.
c) The agreement unduly interferes with the interest of the public.
d) Both (b) and (c).

Answer 1

Answer:

A) The geographic restraint is reasonable.

Explanation:

Generally non-compete agreements are done between employees and their employer and in order for them to be enforceable they must be reasonable and the employee must be compensated in some way (usually when the contract is signed a special compensation must be set, like a high salary or bonus, etc.).

In this case, the non-compete agreement is made between the seller and buyer of a business. The agreement includes a specific geographic restriction and lasts 4 years, so the agreement would be considered valid by a court. Generally if the non-compete agreement was between an employee and his/her employer and lasted that long it wouldn't be enforceable, but for a business a 4 year period is reasonable.