COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 4419
(By Delegates Caputo, Staton, Marshall,
Perdue, Paxton, Manchin and Kuhn)
(Originating in the House Committee on the Judiciary)
[March 1, 2000]
A BILL to amend article three, chapter twenty-one of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
twenty-one, relating to safety and welfare of employees;
defining terms; allowing noncompetition clauses in
employment contracts for certain essential broadcast
employees; prohibiting noncompetition clauses in other
broadcast employee contracts; providing for a civil cause of
action for violation thereof.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article three, chapter twenty-one of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
twenty-one, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. SAFETY AND WELFARE OF EMPLOYEES.
§21-3-21. Noncompetition clauses in contracts of employment of
broadcast employees by broadcast employers.
(a) When used in this article, the following words, and any
variations thereof required by the context, shall have the
following meanings ascribed to them;
(1) "Broadcast employer" means television stations,
television networks, radio stations or radio networks;
(2) "Essential broadcast employee" means any on-air or on-
camera employee who is regularly promoted by the broadcast
employer in print, radio, billboard, or television advertisements
as a featured employee of a broadcast employer, excluding all
off-air broadcast employees not specifically identified as an
essential management employee;
(3) "Essential management employee" means any upper level
management or sales employee who is responsible for making or
participating in the making of major policy decisions which
directly effect marketing strategies, sales strategies or other
essential policy decisions of the broadcast employer;
(4) "Noncompetition clause" means a written agreement
between a broadcast employer and employee which provides that the
employee agrees to refrain from obtaining employment with another
broadcast employer in a specified geographic area for a specified
period time after termination of employment with the broadcast
employer.
(b) A broadcast employer may require essential broadcast
employees, essential management employees and prospective
essential broadcast and management employees to agree to signing a noncompetition clause as a part of an employment contract.
(c) The following provisions apply to noncompetition clause
in this section:
(1) A broadcast employer may not enforce a noncompetition
clause against an employee whom the broadcast employer:
(i) terminates from employment; or
(ii) does not offer a new contract at the expiration of the
employees previous contract.
(2) A noncompetition clause, that is included in a form or
standard contract and is not a specifically bargained for clause
of the employees contract, shall be considered a contract of
adhesion as it pertains to the noncompetition clause.
(d) Any broadcast employer who violates the provisions of
this section is liable in a civil action for damages, attorney's
fees and court costs.