Non-compete spanning all 50 states costs roofing firm its lawsuit

Fast forward to December 2023. FirstService entities acquired the business through a merger, and the co-founder signed a Restrictive Covenant Agreement and became bound by a Shareholders’ Agreement. Both agreements barred him from competing anywhere in the United States. 

He resigned in April 2024, collected $300,000 in severance, and – according to the complaint – promptly broke his promises. The plaintiffs alleged he began funneling employees and customers from Bone Dry’s St. Simons Island branch to a direct competitor operating out of the same Georgia county. By May 2025, his name was on that competitor’s website. 

Six counts followed. All breach of contract. 

The court accepted that the covenants had valid consideration behind them. That was as far as the win went for the plaintiffs. 

The geographic scope was the problem. Both agreements defined their territory as the entire United States, but the complaint only placed the plaintiffs’ operations in Georgia and South Carolina. The court found the mismatch fatal.