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Do non competes ever come back to bite you? I signed a non compete at a previous company, and several of coworkers left to a direct competitor. No one cares, no

Do non competes ever come back to bite you? I signed a non compete at a previous company, and several of coworkers left to a direct competitor. No one cares, no one ever heard anything about it. My current company tried to get me to sign a non compete by leaving it on my desk. I dropped it in a drawer and now everyone's forgot about it. No one is ever going to remember to get me to sign it. The main thing that weirded me out about this one is it also said I can't recommend that any of my current coworkers come work with me for something like 2 years after I leave the company.

dunpeal 8y ago
https://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-sues-former-employee-after-he-leaves-for-google/ https://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-sues-former-employee-after-... https://www.geekwire.com/2017/amazon-sues-former-aws-vp-non-compete-deal-smartsheet-calls-claim-new-product-chief-enormous-overreach/ https://www.geekwire.com/2017/amazon-sues-former-aws-vp-non-... https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-lawsuit/amazon-sues-former-employee-over-new-job-at-target-idUSKCN0WO2IJ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-lawsuit/amazon-sue... https://gizmodo.com/amazon-sued-by-former-human-resources-administrator-for-1825536234 https://gizmodo.com/amazon-sued-by-former-human-resources-ad...
matz1 8y ago
Me personally would just sign it and forget about it. It won't stop me to work at competitor. I deemed that the chance it will come back to bite me is very very low, I'll accept risk.
- ngngngng 8y ago
  That seems like an ok solution, but I much prefer mine of just never sign it and trust that no one will realize I never signed it. Best to not put up a fuss but also provide an airtight defense should they ever come after me.
amerberg 8y ago
One came back to bite me: https://progressive.org/magazine/ties-that-bind/ https://progressive.org/magazine/ties-that-bind/ They had a joke of a case. When they first threatened to sue after I'd given notice, the CEO told me he'd have to take legal action to set an example for the new company. Or as the head of HR put it "they can't take our best people." They made no mention of trade secrets or any other legitimate business interest that would have been required to enforce the agreement in court. Instead, the CEO said that they had a "basically an open and shut case" because I couldn't take my "work experience" to their "closest competitor," which is nonsense. Not to mention that people at both companies have told me the companies weren't even competitors. But the new company withdrew the offer to avoid having to go to court, so the facts and the law didn't matter. This is how non-competes work.
- didip 8y ago
  Wow, that sucks! So, have you move on from that company?
  - amerberg 8y ago
    Yeah, after I submitted my resignation, I was given the choice between legal action and a promotion. I'd been performing at a very high level, been recommended for that promotion by my boss months earlier, only to have kicked it down the road by upper management. After I gave notice they offered to give it to me immediately, with a raise that made them almost competitive with the new company. The legal threats almost scared me into staying, but then I thought about how miserable I would be if I went back there. The postponement of the promotion had been the least of my complaints, nothing else would be getting better, and I'd only be inviting further bullying in the future. So I left. I didn't get sued because the new company dropped the offer before I started. I was unemployed for a couple of months and also spent a significant sum on a lawyer. The whole thing was expensive and stressful bordering on traumatic. But I've never regretted turning down the counteroffer.

dunpeal 8y ago

https://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-sues-former-employee-after-he-leaves-for-google/ https://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-sues-former-employee-after-... https://www.geekwire.com/2017/amazon-sues-former-aws-vp-non-compete-deal-smartsheet-calls-claim-new-product-chief-enormous-overreach/ https://www.geekwire.com/2017/amazon-sues-former-aws-vp-non-... https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-lawsuit/amazon-sues-former-employee-over-new-job-at-target-idUSKCN0WO2IJ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-lawsuit/amazon-sue... https://gizmodo.com/amazon-sued-by-former-human-resources-administrator-for-1825536234 https://gizmodo.com/amazon-sued-by-former-human-resources-ad...

matz1 8y ago

Me personally would just sign it and forget about it. It won't stop me to work at competitor. I deemed that the chance it will come back to bite me is very very low, I'll accept risk.

ngngngng 8y ago
That seems like an ok solution, but I much prefer mine of just never sign it and trust that no one will realize I never signed it. Best to not put up a fuss but also provide an airtight defense should they ever come after me.

amerberg 8y ago

One came back to bite me: https://progressive.org/magazine/ties-that-bind/ https://progressive.org/magazine/ties-that-bind/ They had a joke of a case. When they first threatened to sue after I'd given notice, the CEO told me he'd have to take legal action to set an example for the new company. Or as the head of HR put it "they can't take our best people." They made no mention of trade secrets or any other legitimate business interest that would have been required to enforce the agreement in court. Instead, the CEO said that they had a "basically an open and shut case" because I couldn't take my "work experience" to their "closest competitor," which is nonsense. Not to mention that people at both companies have told me the companies weren't even competitors. But the new company withdrew the offer to avoid having to go to court, so the facts and the law didn't matter. This is how non-competes work.

didip 8y ago
Wow, that sucks! So, have you move on from that company?
- amerberg 8y ago
  Yeah, after I submitted my resignation, I was given the choice between legal action and a promotion. I'd been performing at a very high level, been recommended for that promotion by my boss months earlier, only to have kicked it down the road by upper management. After I gave notice they offered to give it to me immediately, with a raise that made them almost competitive with the new company. The legal threats almost scared me into staying, but then I thought about how miserable I would be if I went back there. The postponement of the promotion had been the least of my complaints, nothing else would be getting better, and I'd only be inviting further bullying in the future. So I left. I didn't get sued because the new company dropped the offer before I started. I was unemployed for a couple of months and also spent a significant sum on a lawyer. The whole thing was expensive and stressful bordering on traumatic. But I've never regretted turning down the counteroffer.