Atmel Corp. v. Vitesse Semiconductor Corp.

Brief Fact Summary.

The plaintiff, a semiconductor company in Colorado sued three of its former employees and another Semiconductor company (Vitesse) seeking injunctive relief to restrict all defendants from raiding its workforce.

Synopsis of Rule of Law.

In Colorado, an employment contract will be translated as per the plain significance of its terms and additionally the goals and intention of the contracting parties, including supplemental parol confirmation of industry guidelines.

Facts.

Atmel Corporation (Plaintiff), a semiconductor organization in Colorado Springs, Colorado, documented suit against previous representatives Robert L. West, Patrick H. Jenkins, and LattieAlejo (defendants) and alsoVitesse Semiconductor Corporation (Vitesse) (defendants), looking for injunctive relief to forbid the individual litigants and Vitesse from "raiding" Atmel's work constraint. Not long after leaving Atmel for Vitesse, the individual workers furnished Vitesse with names of other Atmel representatives the organization might need to procure. Atmel contends this disregarded the "non-solicitation" provision in the employment contract between the individual representatives and Atmel which provided that an Atmel worker would not, for a time of one year taking after the end of the business relationship, either specifically or in a roundabout way, request, select, or endeavor to influence any individual to fire his or her work with Atmel.   The trial court allowed Atmel's ask for an order and restricted the individual litigants from requesting or selecting Atmel's present representatives to work for Vitesse. Also, the trial court's request kept Atmel workers from starting contact with Vitesse in regards to business potential outcomes. Defendants appealed.

Issue.

In Colorado, will an employment contract be translated as per the plain importance of its terms and intentions of the contracting parties, including supplemental parol confirmation of industry guidelines?

Held.

Yes. In Colorado, an employment contract will be deciphered as per the plain significance of its terms and additionally the goals and intentions of the contracting parties.

Dissent.

N/A

Concurrence.

N/A

Discussion.

Respondents initially contend that the trial court blundered in extensively translating Atmel's non-soliciting provision to preclude the defendants from taking part in any part of Vitesse's enlisting procedure including current Atmel representatives.Parol evidence of industry benchmarks might be utilized to exhibit the parties’ intent. Here, experts affirming at trial expressed that they were aware of no case in which a non-solicitation provision was deciphered to block a previous employee from having any association whatsoever in his new manager's hiring processes. Additionally, the terms used in the non-solicitation clause, namely “solicit,” “recruit,” and “persuade” denote conduct that is intended to initiate direct contact with an individual. However, the terms of the trial court's excessively wide injunction order forbid the individual respondents from taking an interest in any way in Vitesse's hiring process. Also, the trial court's injunction order can't be spared through Atmel's utilization of “directly or indirectly” in its non-solicitation provision. Disallowing a worker from in a roundabout way taking an interest in any procuring endeavors would block the individual respondents from making any positive remark about Vitesse to a current Atmel representative. The judgment of the trial court is turned around to the degree that the preparatory directive restricts the individual respondents from taking an interest in Vitesse's procuring procedure including Atmel workers who start contact and to the degree it covers a period longer than the agreement term.