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Greetings:
I have a quick question regarding employment contract; I hope someone
can help me here.
My wife works for CompA that is based in California. CompA has placed
my wife on a project in Florida through a contracting agency CompB.
CompA, which is my wife's current employer has a non compete contract
with her stating that she can't work for any direct or indirect client
of CompA for upto two years from the date of employment termination.
End client in Florida has offered my wife a job, and she is interested
in joining them. CompA has threatened her that if she joins the end
client, they will drag her to the court as it is a breach of contract.
As far as I know, Florida is a Right To Work State, and such contracts
are not enforcable. I would appreciate if any one can help me in this
situation.
Thank You,
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On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 11:55:45 -0500, Anand Shah <shahanand9@netscape.net> wrote:
Greetings:
I have a quick question regarding employment contract; I hope someone
can help me here.
My wife works for CompA that is based in California. CompA has placed
my wife on a project in Florida through a contracting agency CompB.
CompA, which is my wife's current employer has a non compete contract
with her stating that she can't work for any direct or indirect client
of CompA for upto two years from the date of employment termination.
End client in Florida has offered my wife a job, and she is interested
in joining them. CompA has threatened her that if she joins the end
client, they will drag her to the court as it is a breach of contract.
As far as I know, Florida is a Right To Work State, and such contracts
are not enforcable. I would appreciate if any one can help me in this
situation.
I am not familiar with the law in California or Florida. I have heard
that some types of non compete contracts are strongly disfavored in
California. States vary in what types of non compete clauses are
valid, and in what types of action they take with respect to clauses
that are legally over the top.
It seems to me that your wife could very easily find herself
being sued in California rather than Florida. It's also possible
that CompA may have valid claims will be against CompB and/or the
end client rather than your wife, but your wife could get dragged
into it. I'm pretty sure the Florida client isn't looking forward
to being sued in California.
Not legal advice.
Isaac
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[cc'd to previous poster; follow-ups in newsgroup suggested]
In article <ambjuv0bc80dtprfob2ltrjom3j654jg8c@4ax.com> in
misc.legal.moderated, Anand Shah wrote:
My wife works for CompA that is based in California. CompA has placed
my wife on a project in Florida through a contracting agency CompB.
CompA, which is my wife's current employer has a non compete contract
with her stating that she can't work for any direct or indirect client
of CompA for upto two years from the date of employment termination.
End client in Florida has offered my wife a job, and she is interested
in joining them. CompA has threatened her that if she joins the end
client, they will drag her to the court as it is a breach of contract.
The most practical solution is for your wife to talk to the HR
manager or the legal counsel of the firm that wants to hire her.
These non-compete agreements are very common; almost equally common
is for companies to say to the supplier, "Let us hire this person or
you won't get any business again from us, ever." This is a lot more
effective, and much cheaper for all concerned, than going to court.
Note that your wife should not approach her present employer, CompA,
because she has very little leverage with them. She should instead
let the client make the approach, because the client has lots of
leverage.
The result should be a letter from CompA to your wife, signed by an
authorized officer of the corporation, stating that they do not
consider the agreement to include that particular client, or
(better) that they will not enforce the non-compete agreement at
all.
Your wife should show that letter to a lawyer and make sure that it
is adequate to shield her from a lawsuit. She could probably get a
free opinion from the client's legal counsel. But IMHO she's better
off to spend a hundred bucks or so on a lawyer of her own,
unconnected with any company, so that she can be sure the answer is
in her interest.
--
If you e-mail me from a fake address, your fingers will drop off.
I am not a lawyer; this is not legal advice. When you read anything
legal on the net, always verify it on your own, in light of your
particular circumstances. You may also need to consult a lawyer.
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Cortland County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
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On Sat, 27 Dec 2003 14:44:21 -0500, Isaac
<isaac@latveria.castledoom.org> wrote:
I am not familiar with the law in California or Florida. I have heard
that some types of non compete contracts are strongly disfavored in
California.
With very limited exceptions, non-compete contracts are void in
California. See Calif. Bus. & Prof. sec. 16600.
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=bpc&group=16001-17000&file=16600-16607
The narrow exceptions come right after.
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Bob Stock, California Attorney
Nothing I've said should be relied on as legal advice.
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