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My business law professor said to just ignore non-competes. Everyone knows the judge will toss it if it's preventing you from earning a living. Any state that a
by iammisc 5y ago
My business law professor said to just ignore non-competes. Everyone knows the judge will toss it if it's preventing you from earning a living. Any state that allows non-competes has statutory provisions for earning a living. If not, this is part of the common law in every jurisdiction. Non-competes cannot conflict with the public policy. Except for very few instances in which the previous company must show that the competition produces actual harm, they are completely unenforceable. Moreover, they must be geographically limited.
The Alabama, entire state ban, is likely overly large. A citizen of Alabama has a right to work in Alabama. Maybe they can't work in Birmingham for a year or two. But they must be able to work elsewhere in the state. This one could safely be ignored.
One thing I will note is that some companies want you to sign a contract upon leaving not to compete. Usually these are for some amount of money. These can be enforceable. However, they can't required for you to leave (although the bonus can be conditional on it). Don't sign these. They're dumb.
Companies know this too. As do hiring companies. For some reason though (and companies don't want you wisening up), many employees fear their old employer and choose not to apply, get scared, and run away. This is toxic, and it ought to be prosecuted IMO, but in the meantime, you should ignore it.
Source: https://www.bradley.com/insights/publications/2021/03/everything-you-need-to-know-and-probably-dont-about-covenants-not-to-compete-alabama https://www.bradley.com/insights/publications/2021/03/everyt...
- decebalus1 5y ago> My business law professor said to just ignore non-competes. Everyone knows the judge will toss it if it's preventing you from earning a living. 'earning a living' may be a bit ambiguous. What does that actually mean? Would a judge be able to uphold the noncompete just because you would be technically able to take a job at the Amazon warehouse and earn minimum wage - hence 'a living'? Which is bullshit, btw. But just asking.
- iammisc 5y agoNo. It has to be in your same profession. So if you are fired from being a software engineer and that's how you make a living, the company cannot prevent you from doing software engineering wholesale. They can't even prevent you from working in their particular vertical, unless it is highly restricted in geographic area. However, if you're a software engineer for vertical X and that's how you make your living, then they can't prevent you from taking a job in that vertical. Things change a bit if you know trade secrets.
- cactus2093 5y ago> Maybe they can't work in Birmingham for a year or two. But they must be able to work elsewhere in the state. You're arguing that noncompetes are no big deal, but then you're saying you might have to move to an entirely different city to be able to find a job? That seems like a pretty big deal if it's enforceable even to that level.
- iammisc 5y agothat's the most it's enforceable to, in the worst possible case, for high-level employees. The vast majority of employees should ignore non-competes.