Houston Real Estate Firm’s Noncompetition Agreement Upheld

A luxury real estate brokerage firm in Houston convinced the Fifth Circuit on Monday to uphold a noncompetition and nonsolicitation agreement against its former sales manager and vice president.

Seita Jongebloed was invited to take part in a stock compensation program in the summer of 2018 with Realogy Holdings Corp., the parent company of her firm, Martha Turner Sotheby’s International Realty. The program had several restrictive covenants attached to Jongebloed’s acceptance, including one-year non-solicitation and non-competition terms.

Jongebloed left Martha Turner several months later to work for Urban Compass Inc., a direct competitor, and Realogy sued to enforce the ...