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A court case against Malcolm Goodwin and his information technology solutions company, Promise IT, has been dismissed and a temporary injunction prohibiting him from contacting clients of Net-Integrated Consulting Inc. (NIC) has been dissolved.

NIC accused Goodwin of breaking the non-solicitation agreement he signed when he went to work for NIC in March 2006. The agreement prohibited him from soliciting any of NIC’s customers to patronize a competing or similar business for a year after the termination of his employment. Goodwin left NIC on Feb. 28, 2007, and opened a competing IT staffing and consulting company in Greater Des Moines less than a month later. According to court documents filed in Polk County District Court, the case primarily focused on whether Goodman so-licited the Iowa Foundation for Medical Care (IFMC) to win its business.

However, several other businesses were part of a temporary injunction issued against Goodwin on July 25. According to court documents, Goodwin was restricted from directly or indirectly soliciting Meredith Corp., the “Pella Group,” Retirement Investment Services at Principal Financial Group Inc., Nationwide and Briggs Corp., as well as participating in the “preferred vendor list” at the IFMC, until the court determined whether a permanent injunction should be issued. In a court hearing on July 24, Goodwin also conceded that he had an indirect selling relationship and agreed to refrain from directly or indirectly soliciting Iowa Select Farms, Palisades and Wells Fargo & Co.

On March 27, District Judge Artis Reis ruled that the temporary injunction issued on July 25 should have been a different order and that the court found no evidence that would support NIC’s claim that Goodwin violated the non-solicitation agreement. Court documents say, “the evidence shows that the defendant had ongoing relationships with employees at the Iowa Foundation for Medical Care and that he (Goodwin) responded to inquiries from those employees about his availability for placement of candidates for open positions.”

“It’s disappointing that we had to go through this process,” Goodwin said, “but in the whole scheme of things it resolved, I hope, by the order of the judge, it clearly shows I’ve done nothing but be honorable in the way that I’ve dealt with my former clients and I’ve lived up to the agreements that I’ve signed.”

NIC is still in discussions with its attorney to look at options, such as appealing the court’s decision. “NIC is disappointed and respectfully disagrees with the court’s ruling and notes numerous direct and indirect contacts were made to NIC clients,” said Jan Post, general manager of NIC.

As part of the court’s ruling, NIC is responsible for paying the court costs, which include $17,919.67 in fees submitted by Goodwin’s attorney, Van Plumb. Negotiations of those fees are still in process.

The judge also ruled that evidence to support a counterclaim against Post, alleging that he interfered with Goodwin’s prospective business relationship with the IFMC, did not rise “to the level of intentional interference.”

Goodwin said the court case caused him to put his business on hold until the matter was settled. “One of the things that’s very challenging, especially in start-up companies, is you have to have no nicks against you, no possible pitfalls to getting into a business relationship,” Goodwin said, “So I didn’t want to engage any new customers until this matter was resolved.”

As far as the impact on NIC’s business, Post said, “I think overall, it’s part of doing business and you have to protect your clients. It’s kind of a necessary evil of the business.”