A mechanical engineer held the position of product manager for a company that manufactures home medical products, including wheelchairs and wheelchair controllers. In this capacity, she developed marketing strategies and was privy to company financial and pricing data. When she was promoted to product manager, she signed confidentiality and noncompetition agreements. Under the terms of these agreements, she was required for three years following termination of her employment to keep confidential any information related to the medical products company’s business and to refrain from working for a competitor anywhere in the United States. The noncompete included a reimbursement clause under which the company promised to pay the employee her existing salary if she was unable to find other work because of the restrictive covenant. The mechanical engineer left the company in July 2003 and subsequently formed a consulting company. Her company provided consulting services to another company that was in the final stages of developing and testing a new type of wheelchair controller. Was the engineer in violation of enforceable confidentiality and noncompetition agreements? Why or why not?
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