$1.$ In May $2015,$ Dr$.$ Elizabeth Blackwell $($Black$-$

well$)$ had earned her medical doctor degree and

completed all necessary requirements to receive

a license to practice medicine in the state of

Longville. She specialized in nevrological medi$-$

cine. Although she was offered professional oppor$-$

tunities in several large hospitals, she pursued an

employment offer with Neurological Associates,

LLC $($NA$).$ NA is a two$-$physician practice located

in a small town in the southwestern area of the

state of Longville and $20$ miles north of Galway,

the largest city in Longville. Although the pay was

lower than that in the larger hospitals, Blackwell

wanted to be close to her family and did not wish

to engage in a practice that required the strenuous

schedules associated with larger medical providers.

$2.$ NA was managed by two partners, Dr$.$ Richard

Cohn $($Cohn$)$ and Dr$.$ Jean Valjean $($Valjean$).$ While

negotiating Blackwell$$s employment agreement,

$3.$ Immediately after hiring Blackwell, NA paid for

Blackwell to accompany the partners to a medical

conference at which they were scheduled to speak.

At the conference, Cohn and Valjean introduced

her to a number of physicians in hopes of building

the referral base for the practice.

$4.$ In July $2015,$ Cohn approached Blackwell and

told her that he needed her to sign an additional

document that was supposed to be part of her con$-$

tract but that he had neglected to mention during

negotiations. He explained that the document was

standard procedure in medical practices and that

he had been so busy during the negotiation period

that he had forgotten to mention it to Blackwell. He

went on to explain that Blackwell should sign the

document by the end of the workday and that this

would $$make the lawyers happy.$$

$5.$ The document was titled $$Addendum to Contract$$

Restrictive Covenant and Noncompete Clause$$ and

read in pertinent part

Section $1$: The parties hereby agree, in consideration

of the exchange of good, valuable, and sufficient

consideration, to be bound by the following

provision: For a period of three years after the date of her

separation from NA$,$ Blackwell agrees that she

will not contract with any provider of neurological

services, nor compete in any way with NA$,$ within

a radius of $50$ miles of NA$$s practice location. It is

acknowledged that this restriction covers the entirety

of the southwestern region of Longville.

$6.$ Blackwell felt that she should have a lawyer review

the document, but Cohn insisted the addendum

was normal procedure and she needed to sign it

quickly to make things $$legal$.$ He emphasized

that he would have to have the signed document

by the end of the day or$,$ as it was a condition of

her employment, Blackwell$$s payroll check could

not be processed until the document was signed.

Blackwell reluctantly signed the document and

submitted it to Cohn.

$7.$ In August $2015,$ Blackwell began to have conflicts

with Cohn and, to a lesser extent, Valjean. While

Cohn and Valjean took frequent vacations during

the summer, Blackwell was left to staff the practice

alone. She felt overwhelmed and met with Cohn

to discuss a more equitable work schedule. Cohn

refused any negotiation, explaining that Blackwell

was hired as a $$workhorse$$ and that her salary was

fair given the size of the practice and market. Cohn

urged Blackwell to continue her hard work and not

to complain about her work schedule. Eventually,

explained Cohn, Blackwell would become a part$-$

ner in the practice and would enjoy the fruits of

her labor.

$8.$ In September $2015,$ Blackwell continued to handle

a very heavy caseload, seeing almost twice as many

patients as Cohn or Valjean. In response to Black$-$

well$$s plea for additional staff, NA hired a new

physician to help manage the caseload. Although

Blackwell was initially relieved, the situation at

work continued to deteriorate. The workload was

such that Cohn kept denying Blackwell$$s request

for time off to prepare for the upcoming board cer$-$

tification exam, advising her to put it off until the

caseload lightened up a bit.

$9.$ Blackwell began to receive phone calls from

recruiters trying to lure her away from the practice to work at a new neurology clinic in Galway Hos$-$

pital $($located in the city of Galway$).$ The recruit$-$

ers offered a significant amount of money because

there was a substantial shortage of neurologists

in the southwest region of Longville. However,

Blackwell never pursued these opportunities

because she believed the restrictive covenant pre$-$

vented her from working in Galway.

$10.$ In January $2016,$ Blackwell was granted her paid

leave to prepare for her board certification, and she

took the exam in February $2016.$ However, after

she returned to the practice, she began to feel even

more isolated from the other physicians.

$,2016.$ She anticipated starting at

Galway