Facts
The plaintiff [A.] purchased a used truck from the defendant [B. AG] on June 6, 2000 and concluded a "Transport Orders Agreement" with it on the same day. This prohibited the plaintiff from executing orders for the defendant's customers during the duration of the contractual relationship and for 12 months thereafter. The plaintiff terminated the agreement at the end of February 2001 and subsequently worked for [C. AG] . The defendant then deducted a contractual penalty of CHF 30,000 from its invoices. The plaintiff sued for the reimbursement of this amount. The High Court of the Canton of Aargau dismissed the claim, as it considered the agreed non-compete clause to be permissible. The plaintiff appealed against this judgment to the Federal Supreme Court.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. It stated that the non-compete clause met the requirements of Art. 340 para. 2 CO, as the plaintiff had insight into the defendant's customer base and his switch to a competitor of the defendant had caused significant damage of over CHF 10,000. The non-compete clause was also considered to be reasonably…