Kolani

Summary

A broad covenant not to compete cannot be saved from illegality by narrowed construction. A federal statute requires that pendent state claims first asserted in a federal suit must be refiled in state court within 30 days after dismissal of the federal suit. A trial court may be required to grant leave to amend when it knows of potentially viable claims at the time it sustains a demurrer, even though plaintiff does not request leave to amend.

Facts and Procedural History

From sometime in 1991 until September 27, 1993, defendant and respondent Amitai Gluska was a salesperson employed by plaintiffs and appellants Kim and Uriah Kolani, doing business as The Office Place (collectively, TOP), a wholesale supplier of office products. Defendant and respondent Eastman Office Products is Gluska’s subsequent employer.

In May 1993 Gluska and TOP executed a “Sales Representative Agreement” on a typed form. Gluska’s name was inserted in handwriting in a blank provided for the name of the “employee.” The agreement included the following:

Gluska quit on September 27, 1993. On November 19, 1993, Eastman sent a letter to various former TOP customers who had placed orders with…