Road Side Car Club is a full-service commercial tractor and trailer mechanical service provider that also performs mobile mechanic services. On September 1, 2019, Bangles was employed by Road Side Car Club as a mobile tractor and trailer mechanic. He drove a large truck with parts and tools, and would assist clients who had experienced car troubles. After his probationary period, on October 31, Bangles signed a "Confidentiality and Non-Competition, Non-Solicitation Agreement For At Will Employees" ("Agreement"¹). In exchange for agreeing to the Non-Compete, Road Side Car Club promised to pay Bangles an additional one-dollar per hour as well as continued at-will employment.

The relevant paragraphs of the Agreement are as follows:

EMPLOYMENT AT-WILL.Road Side hereby employs, and Employee accepts employment, on an at-will basis, meaning that either Employee or Road Side may terminate the employment relationship at any time, for any lawful reason, with or without advance notice. As an at-will employee, Employee is not guaranteed, in any manner, that he or she will be employed for any set period of time. Nothing in this Agreement, or any subsequent modification of this Agreement, constitutes a contract for a term of employment or any guarantee of continued employment with Road Side.

CONSIDERATION FOR POST-EMPLOYMENT RESTRICTIONS. Employee acknowledges that in consideration for the post-employment restrictions in this Agreement, Employer is paying Employee additional consideration in the form of a one-time bonus or an increase in salary, which Employer would not pay Employee under any circumstances except for the agreement of the Employee to these employment restrictions. The additional consideration is as follows: 1.00 per hour. Employee agrees that no further consideration is required to be provided in exchange for Employee's full compliance with all post-employment restrictions contained herein.

The non-compete provision and employment restrictions at issue provide as follows:

i. Employee agrees that during the term of term of this Agreement, and for a period of twenty-four (24) months beginning on the termination date of Employee's employment with the Company, under any circumstances, Employee shall not engage in any employment similar to his or her role at Road Side, or have a direct or indirect relationship with, or provide consulting services to, any business providing competing services within the Restricted Area, defined below. These restrictions shall also apply to Employee with regard to any subsidiary or affiliate of Company for which Employee has worked.

ii. During the term of this Agreement and for a period of twenty-four (24) months beginning on the termination date of Employee's employment with the Company, under any circumstances, Employee shall not in any geographic area in which duties were assigned to the Employee during the twenty-four (24) months prior to termination of the Employee's employment (or less if Employee employed for a shorter period of time), as proprietor, partner, joint venture, stockholder or shareholder, director, officer, trustee, principal, agent, servant, employee, consultant, or in any other capacity whatsoever, directly or indirectly, render services on behalf of a competitor of the Company or any other third party in any capacity that is similar to Employee's role at Road Side, and in which capacity Trade Secrets and/or Confidential Information would reasonably be considered to be useful to the competitor or to such other third party to become a competitor of the Company. This paragraph will not apply to ownership interests, as a passive investor, of five per cent (5%) or less of the outstanding shares of stock of any corporation if such shares are publicly traded in the over-the-counter-market or listed on a national securities exchange.

iii. Employee acknowledges and agrees that Road Side currently operates in Missouri and Illinois. As such, Employee agrees that a reasonable "Restricted Area" for purposes of this paragraph shall be the St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL combined statistical area (CSA) consisting of the City of St. Louis, the Southern Illinois counties of Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair (known collectively as the Metro East); the Missouri counties of Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis County (separate from and not inclusive of the City of St. Louis), Warren, Washington, and a portion of Crawford County, and the Farmington, MO metropolitan statistical area, which includes Washington and St. Francois Counties. (Emphasis in original).

On August 14, 2020, Bangles terminated his employment with Road Side Car Club. Shortly thereafter, Bangles commenced employment with a new employer that provided similar services within the Restricted Area. On August 28, 2020, Bangles received a letter from Road Side Car Club's attorney informing Bangles that he was in violation of the Non-Compete. On September 1, 2020, Bangles was terminated from his new employment. He assumes he was terminated because of the letter from Road Side.

Bangles is considering filing suit against Road Side Car Club. Using the Missouri principles governing restrictive covenants that were discussed in class, what claims may Bangles bring against Road Side Car Club?Provide your analysis and indicate whether or not you believe he may be successful.