Facts: Jonathan Messina had been a successful sales executive for Integra Optics for over a year when the multinational fiber optics company asked him to sign a non-compete agreement. Integra’s proposed agreement prohibited Messina from working for Integra competitors “anywhere in the world” for one year after leaving the company.

On his lawyer’s advice, Messina repeatedly refused to sign Integra’s non-compete. But the pressure mounted. After a year of refusal, Daniel Maynard, Messina’s boss, threatened to withhold Messina’s earned commissions and bonuses amounting to over $100,000. Maynard bragged that he had done exactly that to another employee, who had ultimately signed an undesirable non-compete because she could not survive on her base pay alone.

Unwilling to relent, Messina met with the company’s top leadership. At the meeting, the chief operating officer reassured Messina: “Jon, this is just a formality. An agreement like this would never be upheld in the courts. We are just trying to get all our ducks in a row as an organization now that we want to grow. We promise we will take care of you, you have nothing to worry about.” The COO also said, “things would have to be pretty bad” for Integra to enforce the non-compete. Messina left the meeting feeling that he had no choice but to sign the agreement if he wanted his money.

As you have probably guessed, Messina singed, but then things did get pretty bad. Messina left to work for a competitor, but Integra sought an injunction to prevent him from assuming his new job. Messina and his new employer argued that the non-compete was unenforceable because it was the product of economic duress.

Questions:

1. Did Messina suffer from under economic duress?

2. What did Integra do that Messina claimed was economic duress?

3. What is Integra’s argument?