Non-compete clauses

[BigN8]

Anyone ever battle an ex-employer on a non-compete clause and win??

 

[Lawson2479]

there is a local therapy Co. that has you sign a non-compete. The owners husband is a lawyer and she has made a couple of PTs I know lives miserable. It's a sad situation on both sides. I guess it depends upon the state you are in. And how bad they want to spend money to fight it.

 

[Bruce]

I am not a lawyer but here are my thoughts.

Assuming you and the company are in the same state then your states statutes and case law will most likely determine how enforceable the noncompete is.

If you are in different states the court may be specified in the contract and federal laws may apply.

Whether it is enforceable or not the company can cause you to spend significant sums on defense counsel and might be able to discourage future employers or customers.

I suggest you speak to an attorney with experience in employment law in the relevant jurisdiction. Initial consultations should be free. If you tell us where that is I may know someone you can talk to.

 

[Bruce]

Here is a Texas firms position that could be helpful.

http://www.robertslegalfirm.com/busnoncomp.html

 

[HawkTX]

I own and executive search firm that places executive level bankers and a lot of them have non compete clauses. Texas doesn't like them, but if there is compensation outside of normal base salary tied to them such as a sign on bonus or stock options etc they are enforceable from what I have experienced.

 

[Julian]

But only enforceable if you are doing the exact same job....on a similar product. I had a non-compete when I left my last company and moved to another Healthcare IT company. They couldn't enforce the non-compete as the product I was going to was very different than the one I left. I'd have the new company look into it for you....

 

[waterboy]

I have seen these clauses fought from both sides throughout my career (never against me...). Different states have different laws so need to know your state.

The point with these that I have seen gain the most traction in these battles is really over the company's IP (intellectual property). This would be customer information, prospect information, pricing, process information and things like that. I have never seen a company be able to prevent someone from working in the same industry and in the same territory even as long as the IP line was not crossed.

If you jump jobs, do not worry about the non-compete, just know how it limits your ability to make a living for the 18 months or so. If you are hired by a competitor, usually they are aware of the non-compete limitations and will work with you to get through those 18 months as well.

You asked has anybody won. Based on what I said above... yes I have seen people win when the company is basically trying to harass them with a baseless suit. I have also seen the companies win when the former employees violate for the reasons above too.

Good luck!!

 

[KXCam22]

Not a lawyer. In many cases the goal of the NC agreement is to prevent an employee from leaving and then setting up their own company that competes directly. If you have marketable skills you should be able to work for a competing company. That was just outlined in a recent class action suit against google, apple and adobe where they made a secret agreement not to poach each others employees to keep the pay lower. Cam.