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Conflict of Laws Keyed to Brilmayer
Cook Sign Co. v. Combs
Citation:
2008 WL 3898267Facts
Cook Sign Co. was a North Dakota corporation that was in the business of designing, fabricating, installing, and servicing custom-manufactured signs. In January 2007, Cook purchased assets from Art-N-Sign, a Minnesota sign-manufacturing company and offered employment to Daniel Combs, an Art-N-Sign employee. That same month, Combs met with Cook’s CEO, Dave Walstad, to discuss Combs’ employment. Walstad stated that Combs knew he would be required to sign a noncompete agreement as a condition of working for Cook, but that they did not discuss the specific terms of the noncompete agreement at the January 2007 meeting. Combs later signed an employment offer that contained a clause referring to, but not actually containing, a noncompete agreement. The employment agreement also stated that disputes would be resolved in accordance with North Dakota law. The following month, Combs signed a noncompete agreement, but it identified Minnesota as the choice of law for resolution of disputes.
In June 2007, Combs resigned from Cook and accepted a position with Indigo SignWorks, a North Dakota company. Cook brought suit against Combs in Minnesota state court. The district court granted a temporary restraining order and a temporary injunction enjoining Combs from working for Indigo. Combs appealed the district court’s grant of a temporary injunction.
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