Is non-compete still enforceable?
I was forced to sign a non-compete to accept employment after I had left my previous job and moved some 150+ miles away. I was let go without cause without receiving any severance as laid out in my non-compete. This office has never enforced a non-compete before, and they have since been bought out by another company. Can I still be sued if I'm now working for a competing firm?
1 answer | asked Feb 6, 2008 1:13 PM [EST] | applies to Texas
Answers (1)
Yes You Can! (hear Obama)
Anyone with $100 can sue anyone else, so yes, you can be sued. Can the employer win? Maybe.
Judges HATE non-compete agreements, and they must be written very carefully, and the geographic area where the competition is prohibited "reasonable," as well as the term (how long), and whether there was any consideration for the agreement.
The fact that another company now owns the former employer is irrelevant.
One thing you might do is have a lawyer send the employer a breach letter demanding the severance and if they don't respond, and decide to sue on the NC, you have a "prior breach" argument. Or you may wish to let sleeping dogs lie, and raise that if/when they sue you.
I'd be happy to review the NC to tell you whether it is probably enforceable. Will probably take an hour or so.
posted by Dana LeJune | Feb 6, 2008 2:53 PM [EST]
Anyone with $100 can sue anyone else, so yes, you can be sued. Can the employer win? Maybe.
Judges HATE non-compete agreements, and they must be written very carefully, and the geographic area where the competition is prohibited "reasonable," as well as the term (how long), and whether there was any consideration for the agreement.
The fact that another company now owns the former employer is irrelevant.
One thing you might do is have a lawyer send the employer a breach letter demanding the severance and if they don't respond, and decide to sue on the NC, you have a "prior breach" argument. Or you may wish to let sleeping dogs lie, and raise that if/when they sue you.
I'd be happy to review the NC to tell you whether it is probably enforceable. Will probably take an hour or so.
posted by Dana LeJune | Feb 6, 2008 2:53 PM [EST]
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