The Northern District of Ohio recently refused to grant a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) or Preliminary Injunction against an employee for allegedly violating a non-compete because the court said the agreement was written in the disjunctive. Alloy Bellows & Precision Welding Inc., v. Cole, Case no. 1:15CV494 (N.D. Ohio, April 22, 2016).
The claim was brought by Ohio corporation Alloy Bellows that manufactures “bellows assemblies,” which are highly specialized components of machines used in aerospace, heavy equipment, medical, nuclear, petrochemical, power generation (gas turbine) and semiconductors. Its former business development manager, Defendant Jason Cole, took a job with one of Alloy Bellows’ top competitor, Senior Flexonics. It was undisputed that his position with Senior Flexonics was “virtually identical” to the one he had with Alloy Bellows.
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