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I've never heard of a court case involving a noncompete. Have you? (of course, I live in California.) It's maybe a little different if you're a chef and you'v

I've never heard of a court case involving a noncompete. Have you? (of course, I live in California.) It's maybe a little different if you're a chef and you've spent a lifetime mastering a particular recipe which is very hard to get right. You teach it to someone, and he goes out and opens his own restaurant selling that same dish. You can see the intuitive appeal of a noncompete, even if it's usually ineffective, and actually harmful to a high-tech ecosystem.

singleshot_ 4y ago
I have heard of such cases. The situation regarding the difficult recipe could be handled under the Uniform Trade Secret Act, as adopted in various states, or under common law related to tortious misappropriation of classified information. This might be a place where restrictive covenants not to compete aren’t really relevant, and if they disappeared, employees might still have all the tools they need to protect their interests.
areyousure 4y ago
Brown v. TGS Management Co., LLC is an interesting court case involving a "noncompete" from California: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2020/g058323.html https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2020...
nfriedly 4y ago
I have a friend who got a new job, then gave it up because his previous employer "reminded" him that he had signed a non-compete. Now, we're both in Ohio, where it likely would have been enforceable, but the point I'm making is that a court case wasn't necessary - the mere threat was sufficient.
- sokoloff 4y ago
  Had the same reminder when I changed jobs (in MA) ages ago. That reminder went to me and to the general counsel of my new employer. Got hauled into a meeting with HR and general counsel where they both said basically “we got the same letter; we don’t think we compete nor would a court find we do; we’re sending them the following letter; don’t worry about it and get back to work.”
TheTon 4y ago
IBM v Papermaster was a pretty high profile one.
shagie 4y ago
Blue Mountain Enterprises, LLC v. Owen https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2022/a157054.html https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2022... https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/california-court-of-appeal-publishes-2336752/ https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/california-court-of-appeal... > Despite California’s general hostility towards post-termination restrictive covenants, the California Court of Appeal, in a recently published opinion, Blue Mountain Enters., LLC v. Owen, 74 Cal.App.5th 537 (1st Dist. Jan. 10, 2022), affirmed that a post-termination customer non-solicitation agreement was enforceable under California Business & Professions Code § 16601. > Under most circumstances, contractual provisions that prevent a person from engaging in a profession, trade, or business, including customer non-solicitation agreements, are void in California. However, section 16601 of the California Business and Professions Code carves out a statutory exception to the rule for individuals selling all of their interest, including goodwill, in a business. > ... > After Owen’s employment was terminated for cause, Owen established a competing construction services company and sent a letter to Blue Mountain customers stating, among other things, that he was launching his new business with “greater perspective, more resources and a much stronger team.” Blue Mountain obtained preliminary and permanent injunctive relief prohibiting Owen from soliciting its customers and prevailed on its motion for summary judgment adjudication of its breach of contract claim.
- kelnos 4y ago
  That's a "post-termination customer non-solicitation agreement", as you quoted, not a non-compete. CA may generally prohibit those as well, but we can't tell from this if a hypothetical non-compete would have been enforced in the same situation.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
_tom_ 4y ago
Yes. They aren't common, but I e seen maybe half a dozen. Typically high level employees. Never a normal engineer.
Thorrez 4y ago
Here are 2 cases of Amazon suing former employees after they quit and got hired by Google: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/amazon-uses-non-competes-in-ways-its-california-rivals-cant https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/amazon-uses... https://www.geekwire.com/2019/amazon-sues-former-aws-exec-joining-rival-google-division-cloud-wars-escalate/ https://www.geekwire.com/2019/amazon-sues-former-aws-exec-jo... Disclosure: I work at Google.

singleshot_ 4y ago

I have heard of such cases. The situation regarding the difficult recipe could be handled under the Uniform Trade Secret Act, as adopted in various states, or under common law related to tortious misappropriation of classified information. This might be a place where restrictive covenants not to compete aren’t really relevant, and if they disappeared, employees might still have all the tools they need to protect their interests.

areyousure 4y ago

Brown v. TGS Management Co., LLC is an interesting court case involving a "noncompete" from California: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2020/g058323.html https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2020...

nfriedly 4y ago

I have a friend who got a new job, then gave it up because his previous employer "reminded" him that he had signed a non-compete. Now, we're both in Ohio, where it likely would have been enforceable, but the point I'm making is that a court case wasn't necessary - the mere threat was sufficient.

sokoloff 4y ago
Had the same reminder when I changed jobs (in MA) ages ago. That reminder went to me and to the general counsel of my new employer. Got hauled into a meeting with HR and general counsel where they both said basically “we got the same letter; we don’t think we compete nor would a court find we do; we’re sending them the following letter; don’t worry about it and get back to work.”

TheTon 4y ago

IBM v Papermaster was a pretty high profile one.

shagie 4y ago

Blue Mountain Enterprises, LLC v. Owen https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2022/a157054.html https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2022... https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/california-court-of-appeal-publishes-2336752/ https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/california-court-of-appeal... > Despite California’s general hostility towards post-termination restrictive covenants, the California Court of Appeal, in a recently published opinion, Blue Mountain Enters., LLC v. Owen, 74 Cal.App.5th 537 (1st Dist. Jan. 10, 2022), affirmed that a post-termination customer non-solicitation agreement was enforceable under California Business & Professions Code § 16601. > Under most circumstances, contractual provisions that prevent a person from engaging in a profession, trade, or business, including customer non-solicitation agreements, are void in California. However, section 16601 of the California Business and Professions Code carves out a statutory exception to the rule for individuals selling all of their interest, including goodwill, in a business. > ... > After Owen’s employment was terminated for cause, Owen established a competing construction services company and sent a letter to Blue Mountain customers stating, among other things, that he was launching his new business with “greater perspective, more resources and a much stronger team.” Blue Mountain obtained preliminary and permanent injunctive relief prohibiting Owen from soliciting its customers and prevailed on its motion for summary judgment adjudication of its breach of contract claim.

kelnos 4y ago
That's a "post-termination customer non-solicitation agreement", as you quoted, not a non-compete. CA may generally prohibit those as well, but we can't tell from this if a hypothetical non-compete would have been enforced in the same situation.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

_tom_ 4y ago

Yes. They aren't common, but I e seen maybe half a dozen. Typically high level employees. Never a normal engineer.

Thorrez 4y ago

Here are 2 cases of Amazon suing former employees after they quit and got hired by Google: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/amazon-uses-non-competes-in-ways-its-california-rivals-cant https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/amazon-uses... https://www.geekwire.com/2019/amazon-sues-former-aws-exec-joining-rival-google-division-cloud-wars-escalate/ https://www.geekwire.com/2019/amazon-sues-former-aws-exec-jo... Disclosure: I work at Google.