Question: Assume that in problem, the disc jockey's contract with her former employer contained a provision that all disputes will be subject to arbitration. Should this provision prevent the radio station from going to court and seeking an injunction to enforce its noncompetition and trade secret rights? Should the court in deciding this question distinguish between the noncompetition promise, which is an express part of the disc jockey's employment contract, and the trade secret issue, which is really a tort claim under the common law? If the court decides to order an arbitration, should it dismiss the case or merely stay proceedings pending the arbitration? Do you think an arbitrator has the right to issue an "injunction" enforcing the noncompete agreement and protecting the radio station's trade secrets? Or should the arbitrator be limited to awarding money damages? See Saga Communications of New England v. Voornas [No. 2000 ME 156 (Maine Supr. 2000)].
Problem: A popular disc jockey signed a three-year contract with a radio station under which she agreed that if she quit her job at the station, she would not go on the air with any competing station for at least six months. A year into the relationship, she left for a higher paying position with a competing station. However, for the first six months, she did not broadcast any shows for her new employer. Instead, she engaged in promotional activities and winning over advertisers from her former station, which sued her and her new affiliation. Do you think the disc jockey should be forbidden by court order from working in promotional and sales activities for the new station? Should the court find that her knowledge of her former employer's relationships with its advertisers is a trade secret? See Saga Communications of New England v. Voornas [No. 2000 ME 156 (Maine Supr. 2000)].