Protecting your company: noncompete and other agreements help secure assets.

• Author: Curry, Lynne
• Position: HR Matters - TEKsystems Inc. sued Horizontal Integration Inc.

On March 16, 2010, the IT staffing firm TEKsystems Inc. sued three of its former employees and their new employer, Horizontal Integration Inc.

Because TEKsystems based its lawsuit on what it learned through the social media LinkedIn, their case carries meaning for all employers wanting to protect their company's interests or those who might find themselves on the receiving end of this type of lawsuit.

TEKsystems employs engineers and other technical professionals. Like other consulting and service companies they invest heavily when recruiting and training their employees. When the company places their highly skilled employees on a temporary basis in companies throughout the United States, sometimes their employees attempt to strike a deal with these clients: hire me and you'll pay less for me as an employee than you'd pay for me as a contractor, but I'll make more money. TEKsystems loses.

As a result, TEKsystems developed noncompetition, nonsolicitation and nondisclosure agreements with its employees, prohibiting them from taking jobs with the clients for 18 months after leaving TEKsystems, from disclosing TEKsystems' business strategy to competitors and from soliciting other company employees to join them in future ventures.

When Brelyn Hammernick started work as a recruiter for TEKsystems, she signed a noncompetition, nonsolicitation and nondisclosure agreement that bound her for 18 months after leaving TEKsystems. In writing, she agreed not to work for TEKsystems clients or competitors or to directly or indirectly approach, contact, solicit or induce any other employee she met by reason of her employment with TEKsystems to move to another company.

When Hammernick's employment with TEKsystems ended, she joined Horizontal Integration Inc., another IT staffing firm. Via the social media LinkedIn, she then connected with 20 or more TEKsystems employees.

The 65 million registered users of LinkedIn create a profile listing their current and former employment and "connect" to professional contacts to find jobs, resource information, contacts and business opportunities.

In violation of her employment agreement, Hammernick connected with 16 current or former TEKsystems employees.

In one exchange with a TEKsystems contract...