We spend most of our time blogging about ways to get around unfair and oppressive noncompete agreements...and here is another tactic you might enjoy!
Illegal Conduct by Your Employer: That's right! If your employer is engaged in illegal activity and requires you to do the same...you may just have a way to walk out of that job and out of that noncompete agreement. Examples are numerous: (1) a salesperson who is ordered to alter invoices to reflect higher prices than the consumer agreed to may be able to avoid his noncompete as the boss may be guilty of "unclean hands;" (2) a pharmaceutical employee may be able to escape a noncompete by showing she was subject to illegal racial and sexual harassment on the job; (3) how about the medical office worker who knows her physician boss wants the staff to change or alter patient medical or billing records; and (4) the office worker in the accountant's office who is directed to take liberties with client records in such a way as to lower the client's tax liability.
The lesson: If your employer is less than honest and your job places you at risk for legal responsibility for those acts of dishonesty....you may have a good argument to defeat the noncompete!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Google Uses Non-Competes
I ran across some discussions on the Internet recently about Googles' use of noncompete agreements. It appears that recently departed DoubleClick employees (purchased by Google) are saying that Google managers asked them to sign one-year noncompete agreements and then laid them off one week later.
I don't know if these allegations are true or not. But I do know that noncompetes in employment contracts for IT professionals are becoming increasingly more common due to the amount of intellectual property involved.
Whether the noncompete contracts are enforceable depends on the state law involved. In California most non-competes are unenforceable but in Virginia a different analysis applies.
Word to the Wise: Better know your rights BEFORE signing a noncompete!
I don't know if these allegations are true or not. But I do know that noncompetes in employment contracts for IT professionals are becoming increasingly more common due to the amount of intellectual property involved.
Whether the noncompete contracts are enforceable depends on the state law involved. In California most non-competes are unenforceable but in Virginia a different analysis applies.
Word to the Wise: Better know your rights BEFORE signing a noncompete!
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