Horton

INTRODUCTION

Renee Horton, Jessica Rubio, and Vivian Marquez (together, Plaintiffs) sued their employer, Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. (Takeda) and Biolife Plasma Services L.P. (Biolife) (together, Defendants). Plaintiffs claimed a non-solicitation clause in their employment agreement was void by statute, entitling them to relief and damages. The challenged clause stated, in part, that current and former employees were prohibited from soliciting, inducing, or encouraging Takeda employees to leave Takeda employment. The trial court sustained Defendants’ demurrer without leave to amend, finding Plaintiffs lacked standing. Plaintiffs appeal the judgment, contending the trial court erred by sustaining the demurrer without leave to amend and offering two possible amendments to cure the standing defect. We find no error and affirm. After we issued an order to show cause why sanctions should not be imposed on Plaintiffs’ counsel for filing a false notice of settlement, and allowing counsel the opportunity to file a response and to be heard, we now impose monetary sanctions of $3,000 on Laurel Employment Law, APC and award Defendants their attorney fees in connection with the order to…