A Michigan district court declined to enjoin a former "restoration drycleaning" franchisee from continuing to ply its trade despite a non-compete clause in the defunct franchise agreement. The Sixth Circuit reversed, holding the clause unambiguous and the evidence sufficient to require enforcing the non-compete by way of preliminary injunction. Certified Restoration Dry Cleaning Network, L.L.C. v. Tenke Corp. d/b/a Rite Cleaners, No. 07-1562 (6th Cir. Dec. 17, 2007) (applying Michigan law).
Blawgletter feels that the court glossed over a few things — particularly the likelihood (or not) of harm to the franchisor from letting Rite Cleaners keep on serving customers that it had before signing up for the franchise and the need to protect Certified from competition in areas where Rite never operated as a franchisee. We would’ve like to see more attention to those points.
Barry Barnett
