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So is it illegal for companies to approach people about different job opportunities? Or is it the tactics used by Apple that give A123 the right to sue them?

tfinniga 12y ago
No, poaching is legal. Apple also got sued for no-poaching agreements with other tech companies. I think poaching is good in many cases, since hiring someone away from their current company usually means a higher price for their services. This means that you're moving developers to where they're most productive for the market as a whole. The problem is this: > in violation of their employment agreements It's very possible to break an employment contract by leaving to go work somewhere else. These might not hold up in court (depends on the state), or Apple might just pay whatever fine the court levies.
- andyjohnson0 12y ago
  That explains why A123 are suing their former employees, as they individually had contractual agreements. It doesn't explain why A123 are suing Apple, since they apparently had no contractual relationship. IANAL, but my guess would be that the case is based on Apple allegedly inducing one of the A123 engineers to recruit other engineers into Apple. I don't know if that is actionable, though. According to [1] the action is in the Massachusetts District Court, Boston. Looks like the details are paywalled inside Pacer. [1] http://dockets.justia.com/docket/massachusetts/madce/1:2015cv10438/167626 http://dockets.justia.com/docket/massachusetts/madce/1:2015c...
  - mdasen 12y ago
    PACER does charge, but if your usage is less than $15 for the quarter, you don't have to pay. So, if you're just curious about a few things, you can often get them without paying.
  - Retric 12y ago
    Your often not allowed to induce people to break contracts. It stems from Lumeley v. Gye and has a lot of caviots. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumley_v_Gye http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumley_v_Gye
- petilon 12y ago
  When a big company hires your employees en masse to work on the exact same thing they were working on that feels morally wrong, even if it is legal. There is transfer of IP involved here.
masklinn 12y ago
> So is it illegal for companies to approach people about different job opportunities? No, the opposite. > Or is it the tactics used by Apple that give A123 the right to sue them? The text seems to indicate this is related to some sort of non-compete clause (" The engineers jumped ship to pursue similar programs at Apple, in violation of their employment agreements"). I don't think it would fly in CA (where NCC requirements are rather stringent) but no idea for Mass.
- hga 12y ago
  Massachusetts is starting to get a clue about how much this cripples their high tech sector, but as of yet I believe they've failed to pass any reforms. In these sorts of cases, it's a race to the courtroom. If the non-CA based company wins, they get to enforce their non-competes against those who signed them, to the extent they're reasonable.

tfinniga 12y ago

No, poaching is legal. Apple also got sued for no-poaching agreements with other tech companies. I think poaching is good in many cases, since hiring someone away from their current company usually means a higher price for their services. This means that you're moving developers to where they're most productive for the market as a whole. The problem is this: > in violation of their employment agreements It's very possible to break an employment contract by leaving to go work somewhere else. These might not hold up in court (depends on the state), or Apple might just pay whatever fine the court levies.

andyjohnson0 12y ago
That explains why A123 are suing their former employees, as they individually had contractual agreements. It doesn't explain why A123 are suing Apple, since they apparently had no contractual relationship. IANAL, but my guess would be that the case is based on Apple allegedly inducing one of the A123 engineers to recruit other engineers into Apple. I don't know if that is actionable, though. According to [1] the action is in the Massachusetts District Court, Boston. Looks like the details are paywalled inside Pacer. [1] http://dockets.justia.com/docket/massachusetts/madce/1:2015cv10438/167626 http://dockets.justia.com/docket/massachusetts/madce/1:2015c...
- mdasen 12y ago
  PACER does charge, but if your usage is less than $15 for the quarter, you don't have to pay. So, if you're just curious about a few things, you can often get them without paying.
- Retric 12y ago
  Your often not allowed to induce people to break contracts. It stems from Lumeley v. Gye and has a lot of caviots. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumley_v_Gye http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumley_v_Gye
petilon 12y ago
When a big company hires your employees en masse to work on the exact same thing they were working on that feels morally wrong, even if it is legal. There is transfer of IP involved here.

masklinn 12y ago

> So is it illegal for companies to approach people about different job opportunities? No, the opposite. > Or is it the tactics used by Apple that give A123 the right to sue them? The text seems to indicate this is related to some sort of non-compete clause (" The engineers jumped ship to pursue similar programs at Apple, in violation of their employment agreements"). I don't think it would fly in CA (where NCC requirements are rather stringent) but no idea for Mass.

hga 12y ago
Massachusetts is starting to get a clue about how much this cripples their high tech sector, but as of yet I believe they've failed to pass any reforms. In these sorts of cases, it's a race to the courtroom. If the non-CA based company wins, they get to enforce their non-competes against those who signed them, to the extent they're reasonable.