"Wisconsin Supreme Court holds an employee non-solicitation provision to be a restraint of trade" (American Bar Association)

On Friday, January 19, 2018, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Manitowoc Company, Inc. v. Lanning that applies Wisconsin's notoriously strict restrictive covenant statute and held that the employee non-solicitation provision at issue was a restraint of trade governed by Wis. Stat. § 103.465. The court further held the provision was unenforceable for a number of reasons, including that the provision applied to “any” solicited employee and as such, it failed to limit solicitation based on the nature and competitive threat associated with the  solicited employee’s position, defendant and former employee John Lanning’s personal familiarity with the solicited employee, or Lanning’s influence over the solicited employee. To read the full article, please click the link above.