H. B. 4419
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(By Delegates Caputo, Staton, Marshall,
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Perdue, Paxton, Manchin and Kuhn)
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[Introduced February 7, 2000; referred to the
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Committee on the Judiciary.]
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; and
prohibiting noncompetition clauses in employment contracts
of broadcast employees.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
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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
on-air broadcast employees by broadcast employers
prohibited.
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(a) For the purposes of this section, "broadcast employer"
means television stations, networks, radio stations or radio
networks and "broadcast employee" means any employee of a
broadcast employer, excluding sales and management employees.
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(b) A broadcast employer may not require in any employment
contract that a broadcast employee or prospective broadcast
employee refrain from obtaining employment in a specified
geographic area for a specified period of time after termination
of employment with the broadcast employer.
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(c) Any broadcast employer who violates the provisions of
this section is liable in a civil action for damages, attorney's
fees and court costs.
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NOTE: The purpose of this bill it to prohibit noncompetition
clauses in employment contracts of broadcast employees.
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This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.