A federal judge in St. Louis issued a preliminary injunction barring former Cigna executive Amy Bricker from working for CVS Health, while a lawsuit over her noncompete clause moves forward.
In the June 5 order, Judge Ronnie White said that Ms. Bricker is prohibited from providing any services to CVS Pharmacy, CVS Health, any of its entities or any other business that is "engaged in a business similar to, or that competes with, the business of Cigna." She is also barred from disclosing Cigna trade secrets or confidential information.
The judge explained the reasoning for his decision in a sealed opinion, according to court records.
Ms. Bricker served as president of Cigna's pharmacy benefit manager, Express Scripts. She resigned Jan. 10 to become CVS' executive vice president and chief product officer-consumer. She was set to begin her new position Feb. 20, but Cigna sued to block her from taking the new job.
Cigna alleged in the lawsuit that CVS' hiring of Ms. Bricker puts its trade secrets at risk. Express Scripts beat CVS' Caremark last year for a $35 billion PBM contract with Centene. Ms. Bricker led Express Scripts' efforts, which led to a "high six-figure spot bonus," according to the lawsuit.
CVS has argued that Ms. Bricker's noncompete clause is unenforceable because it is overly broad and anticompetitive. The company also argued it does not apply to her new position because it will be unlike her Cigna role.
The judge issued a temporary restraining order in February, preventing Ms. Bricker from starting her new role.
Messages sent to Cigna and CVS Health seeking comment were not immediately returned.