KFORCE INC v. MICKENBERG (2003)

District Court of Appeal of Florida,Fourth District.

KFORCE, INC., f/k/a Romac International, Inc., successor by merger to Romac Associates of Fort Lauderdale, Inc., a Florida corporation, Appellant, v. Kerin MICKENBERG, f/k/a Kerin B. Lake, Appellee.

No. 4D02-4649.

Decided: May 21, 2003

Stanley H. Eleff,Marie Tomassi, and Edward B. Carlstedt of Trenam, Kemker, Scharf, Barkin, Frye, O'Neill & Mullis, Professional Association, Tampa, for appellant. Michael W. Ullman and Laurie A. Thompson of Ullman, Ullman & Vazquez, P.A., Boca Raton, for appellee.

Kforce, Inc. appeals a non-final order denying its request for temporary injunction against Kerin Mickenberg which sought to enforce a covenant not to compete.

When she went to work for Kforce in 1995, Mickenberg signed a covenant not to compete. She left Kforce in 2002 and began to work for a competitor. At the hearing on the temporary injunction, Kforce proved that Mickenberg had contacted its customers by e-mail. The e-mails demonstrated Mickenberg's attempt to circumvent the terms of the noncompetition agreement. For example, two e-mails informed clients that Mickenberg was trying to “remain low key” to avoid any “conflict of interest” issues. Other comments were that she was willing “to work with [the client] behind the scenes for a little while” and to contact her if she could be of any assistance.

These e-mails amounted to a direct solicitation of Kforce's customers. Under section 542.33(2)(a), Florida Statutes (1995), “solicitation of existing customers shall be presumed to be an irreparable injury.” At the hearing, Kforce demonstrated entitlement to a temporary injunction. We reverse the order of the circuit court and remand with directions to enter a temporary injunction enforcing the noncompetition agreement.

PER CURIAM.

KLEIN, SHAHOOD and GROSS, JJ., concur.

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