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The candidate withdrew his application, citing his noncompete. I followed up with him to verify there wasn't a misunderstanding, and he forwarded an email with

by gecko 15y ago

The candidate withdrew his application, citing his noncompete. I followed up with him to verify there wasn't a misunderstanding, and he forwarded an email with his employer saying there wasn't.

rdl 15y ago
Would the former employer have sued him directly? At some point, civil disobedience is the right societal answer to this kind of thing, even if it's a bad choice for an individual. I'd be willing to get sued over a non-compete (if it were genuinely a case of not competing, and where I thought a judge/jury would support me, especially if it were a very telegenic case like this), but I can see where a 20 year old kid wouldn't.
microarchitect 15y ago
I know this is not the point of the post, but how confident are you that this was the real reason he declined? This non-compete sounds rather unenforceable to me.
- ajones05 15y ago
  They rarely are, especially in california. My guess would be the same, that there was some other reason and it was more of an excuse. Maybe he wanted to show loyalty to the other company.
  - LaGrange 15y ago
    He was scared. Just like that. You know all that, but when you face a lawyer or an experienced abusive superior, it's hard to be reasonable. Especially if you're not experienced in dealing with people like that.
- sliverstorm 15y ago
  Still in college is not the best time to challenge a corporation and risk a lawsuit. Besides having better things to do, college computer science students are not known for their wealth, lawyers on retainer, or breadth of legal knowledge.
ChuckMcM 15y ago
This is just silly, and no doubt unenforceable. Hire Bob and as part of his employment agreement let him know you'll defend him in court if he gets sued. Then file a motion for declarative relief with your local court asking them to provide you with a get out of court free card.
- nl 15y ago
  Non-competes aren't enforcable in California, but in much of the US they are. There was an article on HN about a woman (in Boston?) who'd been fired from a position because of a non-compete.
  - Symmetry 15y ago
    In that case it never made it to court, and the people trying to enforce the non-compete would likely have lost if they had pushed.
  - ChuckMcM 15y ago
    The courts do not look favorably on non-competes. So enforcing them is very hard. Its doable at the executive level but for someone who was simply a student intern one summer I would be flabbergasted if the court upheld it. You would have to prove that the student learned enough in the summer to materially impact the business in a negative way. I think it is so preposterous that you could get the declarative relief writ which basically says "If you try to sue these guys we're going to rule against you, do don't bother."
    - nl 15y ago
      That would make a lot of sense, but it isn't the reality. Here's the previously posted article: http://articles.boston.com/2011-07-03/business/29733744_1_noncompete-video-game-harmonix-music-systems http://articles.boston.com/2011-07-03/business/29733744_1_no... TL;DR: Game tester lost their job, and couldn't work for another gaming company because of non-compete. Analysis indicated non-compete is enforcable.
      - 15y ago

by gecko 15y ago

The candidate withdrew his application, citing his noncompete. I followed up with him to verify there wasn't a misunderstanding, and he forwarded an email with his employer saying there wasn't.

rdl 15y ago

Would the former employer have sued him directly? At some point, civil disobedience is the right societal answer to this kind of thing, even if it's a bad choice for an individual. I'd be willing to get sued over a non-compete (if it were genuinely a case of not competing, and where I thought a judge/jury would support me, especially if it were a very telegenic case like this), but I can see where a 20 year old kid wouldn't.

microarchitect 15y ago

I know this is not the point of the post, but how confident are you that this was the real reason he declined? This non-compete sounds rather unenforceable to me.

ajones05 15y ago
They rarely are, especially in california. My guess would be the same, that there was some other reason and it was more of an excuse. Maybe he wanted to show loyalty to the other company.
- LaGrange 15y ago
  He was scared. Just like that. You know all that, but when you face a lawyer or an experienced abusive superior, it's hard to be reasonable. Especially if you're not experienced in dealing with people like that.
sliverstorm 15y ago
Still in college is not the best time to challenge a corporation and risk a lawsuit. Besides having better things to do, college computer science students are not known for their wealth, lawyers on retainer, or breadth of legal knowledge.

ChuckMcM 15y ago

This is just silly, and no doubt unenforceable. Hire Bob and as part of his employment agreement let him know you'll defend him in court if he gets sued. Then file a motion for declarative relief with your local court asking them to provide you with a get out of court free card.

nl 15y ago
Non-competes aren't enforcable in California, but in much of the US they are. There was an article on HN about a woman (in Boston?) who'd been fired from a position because of a non-compete.
- Symmetry 15y ago
  In that case it never made it to court, and the people trying to enforce the non-compete would likely have lost if they had pushed.
- ChuckMcM 15y ago
  The courts do not look favorably on non-competes. So enforcing them is very hard. Its doable at the executive level but for someone who was simply a student intern one summer I would be flabbergasted if the court upheld it. You would have to prove that the student learned enough in the summer to materially impact the business in a negative way. I think it is so preposterous that you could get the declarative relief writ which basically says "If you try to sue these guys we're going to rule against you, do don't bother."
  - nl 15y ago
    That would make a lot of sense, but it isn't the reality. Here's the previously posted article: http://articles.boston.com/2011-07-03/business/29733744_1_noncompete-video-game-harmonix-music-systems http://articles.boston.com/2011-07-03/business/29733744_1_no... TL;DR: Game tester lost their job, and couldn't work for another gaming company because of non-compete. Analysis indicated non-compete is enforcable.
    - 15y ago