The Role of Equity in Employment Noncompetition Cases

摘要

The use of equitable doctrines to prevent a challenge to the legality of a noncompetition agreement reflects the inherent tension that underlies the American advocacy system. Despite the adversarial nature of the process, the judicial proceeding is a quest for truth and justice. To be effective, however, it depends on the integrity and honesty of its participants. Equitable doctrines developed to deter a litigant's chameleonic arguments advanced at the expense of judicial integrity and the rights of other litigants. By applying equitable canons, such as unclean hands, implied waiver, and estoppel, courts have shown an unwillingness to "countenance the devolution of the judicial system into a forum of 'mere gamesman-ship.'"