Personal Injury Law

Financial Advisor or Manager?

By Rod Heggy

In Colorado, at least, it might matter. In Dish Network v Altomari (Colo. Ct. App. June 25, 2009), the question was whether the employee that supervised some people, probably a sales staff, was in ?management.? If the employee was in management, then under the Colorado non-compete statute, a non-compete against the employee was enforceable. The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court and held the employee was in management.

The term ?management? is not defined in the Colorado statute. However, it is pretty clear the court is confused about what constitutes ?management.? The only employees in ?management? are those who can bind the company or otherwise decide company policy, typically corporate officers and directors. That would be a logical purpose of the statute. Applying the statute to middle or lower tier supervisors turns the statute from a fair allocation of business risk to a draconian labor control tool.

Of course, will Financial Advisors in Colorado with titles like “Vice President” or “Director” once again face non-compete risks when they trade jobs? Protocol firms may not be tempted but many will be in the is shaky economy. Financial Advisors in Colorado should try to wheedle an email or something that indicates they are not in management, or obtain a page from a firm policy manual that says something similar.

(Hat Tip: Professor Ross Runkel?s employment law summaries)

Full post as published by Terra Extraneus on July 18, 2009 (boomark / email).