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WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2023 REGULAR SESSION
Introduced
House Bill 2537
By Delegates Summers, Kelly, Petitto, Heckert, Forsht, Foggin and E. Pritt
[Introduced January 13, 2023; Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary]
A BILL to amend and reenact §47-18-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to prohibiting certain contract provisions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
(a) Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce in this state shall be unlawful.
(b) Without limiting the effect of subsection (a) of this section, the following shall be deemed to restrain trade or commerce unreasonably and are unlawful:
(1) A contract, combination or conspiracy between two or more persons:
(A) for the purpose or with the effect of fixing, controlling, or maintaining the market price, rate or fee of any commodity or service; or
(B) fixing, controlling, maintaining, limiting or discontinuing the production, manufacture, mining, sale or supply of any commodity, or the sale or supply of any service, for the purpose or with the effect of fixing, controlling or maintaining the market price, rate or fee of the commodity or service; or
(C) allocating or dividing customers or markets, functional or geographic, for any commodity or service.
(2) A contract, combination or conspiracy between two or more persons whereby, in the letting of any public or private contract:
(A) the price quotation of any bid is fixed or controlled; or
(B) one or more persons submits a bid intending it to be higher than another bid and thus complementary thereto, submits a bid intending it to be substantially identical to another bid, or refrains from the submission of a bid.
(3) A contract, combination or conspiracy between two or more persons refusing to deal with any other person or persons for the purpose of effecting any of the acts described in subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection.
(c) No employer shall enter into, enforce, or threaten to enforce a covenant not to compete. "Covenant not to compete" means a covenant or agreement, including a provision of a contract of employment, between an employer and employee that restrains, prohibits, or otherwise restricts an individual's ability, following the termination of the individual's employment, to compete with his former employer. A "covenant not to compete" shall not restrict an employee from providing a service to a customer or client of the employer if the employee does not initiate contact with or solicit the customer or client.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit the use of covenants not to compete.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
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