Can a former city employee who entered into a settlement agreement with the city be sued for breach of the settlement agreement?

City of Alhambra v. D'Ausilio (2011) 193 Cal.App.4th 1301 (City of Alhambra) is instructive. There, the defendant was a former city employee who entered into a settlement agreement with the city. The settlement agreement provided, inter alia, that the defendant would not represent or advocate for any city employee for five years. A year later, the city learned that the defendant had taken part in a protest by city employees, and it sent the defendant written notification that it believed his actions breached the settlement agreement. The city subsequently sued the defendant for declaratory relief, seeking a judicial determination that the defendant's conduct violated the settlement agreement. (Id. at pp. 1304-1305.)

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