SimplyHR | Employment & Labor Blog 

On Jan. 11, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to accept review of Smith v. Aegon Companies Pension Plan, a case in which the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit found forum selection clauses in ERISA plans to be valid and enforceable. The holding of the Sixth Circuit, the only court of appeals to have considered this issue, allows ERISA plan sponsors to designate the federal courts in which their participants may bring claims arising under ERISA. Plan sponsors, particularly those with participants scattered throughout multiple states, often favor this approach because it brings uniformity to the treatment of their plans.

A recent Illinois Appellate Court decision serves as a good reminder that when it comes to restrictive covenants, one size does not fit all. A consistent theme in recent court decisions has been that “form” employment agreements with overly broad restrictions not anchored to the employee’s job responsibilities and related to the employer’s protectable interests will not be enforced.