Statutory ban
Non-compete enforceability in North Dakota
Statutory void since 1877 — every contract restraining lawful trade is void to that extent.
What this means for you
North Dakota is an absolute-ban state: post-employment non-competes are void by statute for most workers — regardless of salary, industry, or how "reasonable" the clause looks. The narrow exceptions are typically sale-of-business and partnership-dissolution covenants.
Controlling case-law
Werlinger v. Mutual Service Casualty Ins. Co., 496 N.W.2d 26 (N.D. 1993)
Reaffirmed strict reading of §9-08-06.
Doctrine
Red-pencil statutory void. Courts treat over-broad non-competes as void in their entirety — no judicial reformation is permitted.
Gotchas
- One of three pre-1900 statutory voids alongside CA and OK.
- Sale-of-business goodwill and partnership-dissolution carve-outs only.
Note: The primary statute text could not be retrieved; the citation is as published in secondary sources, and its verbatim text has not been checked.
Federal context
The FTC's 2024 federal non-compete ban was vacated nationwide in Ryan v. FTC and removed from the Code of Federal Regulations in February 2026. There is no federal ban in force — so North Dakota's state law controls. Read the federal status.
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