Western Medical Consultants, Inc., an Oregon Corporation v. Shannon L. Johnson Medical Evaluation of Alaska, an Alaska Corporation

Western Medical Consultants, Inc. (“Western”), an Oregon corporation that provides independent medical examination (“IME”) services, appeals the district court’s judgment after a bench trial. The court denied Western’s request to enjoin Shannon Johnson, a former Western employee, from operating a business in competition with Western’s IME business in Alaska. Western Medical Consultants, Inc. v. Johnson, 835 F.Supp. 554 (D.Or.1993).

On appeal, Western contends that, in opening her Alaska IME business, Johnson breached the covenant not to compete contained in her employment contract with Western, breached a fiduciary duty she owed to Western, and misappropriated' trade secrets. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

In May 1989, Western hired Shannon Johnson as a full-time employee. Before she commenced her employment at Western, Johnson signed an Employee Confidentiality Agreement. The agreement included a covenant not to compete with Western, for five years after termination of her employment, within a radius of fifty miles from any Western office.

During the Summer of 1990, Western became interested in expanding its business to Alaska. Johnson was assigned to market Western IME…