No Class Action For Determining Validity of Covenants Not To Compete

Although in the past class actions were primarily a creature of federal courts, more parties are turning to state courts to bring such actions. A group of insurance agents who sought to represent a large class of such agents in an effort to declare the covenants not to compete contained in employment agreements were invalid succeeded in convincing a trial judge that they should be allowed to do so. The Beaumont Court of Appeals felt otherwise, finding that the individual determinations of reasonable geographical scope and the requirement to revise each agreement if were not, make it unsuitable for class treatment. American National Insurance v. Cannon (Beaumont 9/26/02).