Torrence v. Hewitt Associates

Plaintiff, James R. Torrence, brought this action against his former employer, defendant, Hewitt Associates, seeking to have the forfeiture provision in his non-competition agreement declared invalid and unenforceable. The trial court granted Hewitt's motion for summary judgment on the basis that Torrence violated the valid agreement when he began working for a competitor of Hewitt. Hewitt is an Illinois partnership which provides consulting services in the area of employee compensation, benefits, communications and related services. Torrence, an attorney, was a partner at Hewitt from 1977 until he resigned in May 1981. He specialized in flexible compensation, a method of providing employees with various alternative taxable and nontaxable benefits. The Hewitt articles of partnership, as amended in October 1980 and executed by Torrence, included section 9.03(c)(iii), which provided that for a two-year period after leaving Hewitt, partners could not: