Payroll Advance, Inc. v. Yates

AFFIRMED. Payroll Advance, Inc. (""Appellant"") appeals from the judgment of the trial court entered in favor of Barbara Yates (""Respondent"") on Appellant's petition for injunctive relief and breach of contract of an ""Employment Agreement"" (""the Employment Agreement"") which contains a covenant not to compete. After a bench trial, the trial court found the Employment Agreement and its non-compete covenant signed by the parties was not valid in that it was ""unreasonable under the facts and circumstances of the particular industry, agreement, and geographic location here involved."" Appellant asserts two points of trial court error. In its first point, Appellant maintains the trial court erred in denying its petition for permanent injunction in that the trial court ""erroneously applied the law pertaining to the reasonableness and enforceability of covenants not [to] compete . . ."" and ""the covenant not to compete should have been upheld and a permanent injunction issued."" In its second point, Appellant maintains the trial court erred in denying its petition because the trial court erroneously applied the law in failing to modify the covenant not to compete to a geographic scope it found to be reasonable. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.