Monday, May 3, 2021
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently held that a contractual no-hire or “no poach” provision in a services contract between sophisticated business entities is not enforceable under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This important case is entitled
Pittsburgh Systems, Inc. v. Beemac Trucking, et. al., case no. 31 WAP 2019.
On August 30, 2010, Plaintiff, Pittsburgh Logistics Systems, Inc. (PLS) a third-party logistics provides that arranges for the shipping of its’ customers’ freight with selected trucking companies entered into a written agreement with Defendant, Beemac Trucking (“Beemac”), a shipping company that conducted non-exclusive business with PLS. That contract contained both non-solicitation and no-hire provisions. While that contract was in force, Beemac hired four PLS employees, who were not parties to the agreement between these two sophisticated entities.