A former Cigna executive is barred from starting her new role at CVS Health while a lawsuit over her noncompete agreement moves forward, according to a Feb. 17 court order.
Amy 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 a federal judge granted Cigna a temporary restraining order blocking her from starting 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.
Ms. Bricker's position at CVS Health was created for her, according to court records. Federal Judge Ronnie White wrote in his order that given Ms. Bricker's position at Cigna, as well as her knowledge of its confidential information and/or trade secrets, he believes "Cigna would suffer irreparable harm absent a temporary injunction."
Cigna is required to give $250,000 in security to pay the costs and damages sustained by Ms. Bricker in the event she is found to have wrongfully been restrained, according to court records.
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.