特拉华州最高法院规定,雇主不能为不合理的非竞争协议追索损害赔偿,坚持严格的可执行性标准。 Delaware's top court rules employers can't recover damages for unreasonable noncompete agreements, upholding strict enforceability standards.

2026年2月10日,特拉华州最高法院裁定,如果发现雇主违反限制性盟约(如非竞争盟约和非煽动盟约)的损害赔偿不合理或过于宽泛,即使雇主只寻求金钱赔偿,雇主也无法追偿损害赔偿。 On February 10, 2026, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled that employers cannot recover damages for breaches of restrictive covenants—like noncompetes and nonsolicitations—if those agreements are found to be unreasonable or overly broad, even when seeking only monetary compensation. 法院确认了下级法院的决定,即不论所寻求的补救办法如何,这些盟约仍必须经过合理性审查,拒绝通过避免强制令绕过审查的努力。 The court affirmed a lower court’s decision that such covenants must still pass reasonableness review regardless of the remedy sought, rejecting efforts to bypass scrutiny by avoiding injunctions. 这项裁决涉及Fortiline及其母公司爱国者供应控股公司,强调限制竞争协议涉及公共政策,必须在范围、期限和地域上作狭义的调整。 The ruling, which involved Fortiline and its parent company Patriot Supply Holdings, emphasized that competition-restricting agreements implicate public policy and must be narrowly tailored in scope, duration, and geography. 这项决定是特拉华州最高法院两周后作出的第二次判决,该判决加强了基于公平就业协议的严格执行标准。 The decision is the second in two weeks from Delaware’s highest court reinforcing strict standards for enforceability in equity-based employment agreements.