Court blocks Mullany from joining CVS Caremark

WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware judge granted Walmart's request for a preliminary injunction on Wednesday and has blocked — for now — CVS Caremark from hiring former Walmart executive Hank Mullany as president of CVS/pharmacy, according to published reports.

Vice chancellor J. Travis Laster scheduled a trial for early March.

As previously reported, Walmart sued CVS Caremark, alleging that Mullany's contract forbids him from working for a company that competes with Walmart. In the filing, Walmart said that before Mullany accepted that position, he signed a contract in which he agreed that if he left the company, he would not join or be involved with a company that competes with Walmart for at least two years, the Associated Press reported. Walmart said Mullany has detailed knowledge about Walmart and its strategies, and it would be harmful to the company if he shared that information with CVS.

In the ruling on Wednesday, the judge found that the scope and duration of the noncompete agreement seemed reasonable, AP reported.

In addition, the judge rejected CVS' argument that it should not be viewed as a competitor of Walmart, and that the noncompete agreement that Mullany signed should not be enforced because he did not work directly for Walmart's pharmacy operation, the AP reported.