Warren M. Thompson is President and Chairman of Thompson Hospitality Corporation, the largest minority-owned food service and facilities management company in the U.S.
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Initiation of Contact by Customer – Contract Specific Analysis
An employer has a legitimate protectable business interest in prohibiting solicitation of its customers with whom the employee has a substantial relationship. Hilb Rogal & Hobbs of Florida v. Grimmel, 16 So.3d 167 (Fla. App. 2009), citing Scarbrough v. Liberty National Life Insurance Co., 872 So.2d 283, 285 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004). The right to prohibit the direct solicitation of existing customers is a legitimate business interest, and a covenant not to compete which includes a nonsolicitation clause is breached when a former employee directly solicits customers of the former employer.