JustAnswer > Employment Law
Ask A Question|Register|Login|Help
JustAnswer

Employment Law

Ask an Employment Law Question, Get an Answer ASAP!

Have your own Employment Law question?

14 Lawyers are Online Now
characters left:
Not an Employment Law Question?

Related Employment Law Topics:

  • Job
  • ,
  • Less
  • ,
  • Left
  • ,
  • Term
  • ,
  • Time
  • ,
  • Work
  • ,
  • York
  • ,
  • Year
  • ,
  • Based
  • ,
  • First
Bookmark and Share

Question

I am a consultant working for a client. When we arrived to start work, they had a position open in a related field to the work we are doing. I have signed a non-solication, which says one year I cannot solicit work from clients, for a company with headquarters in Delaware, but my office is in New York. The client is in Arizona. Is there a legal problem if I take the job with the client?

Submitted: 94 days and 3 hours ago.
Category: Employment Law
Value: $30
Status: CLOSED
+
Read More
Posted by MarshaDMD 94 days and 3 hours ago.

Info Request

Hello XXXXXXXX,

In order to answer your question more thoroughly I need a few more facts. If you take the position with the client, will you be soliciting the same clients you do now, or will you just be working with them? What exactly do you do for your company now and what will you be doing for the new company? What does the agreement say about the period of time or geographic area that the nonsolicitation applies to?

Thank you.

94 days and 3 hours ago.

Reply

If I take a job with the client I will not be soliciting any clients or working with clients other than the one that I have taken the job. Today I do develop strategy management tools and processes for clients and at the new company I would be helping to use these tools and other strategy work.

 

Here is the wording from the agreement:

Nonsolicitation. I expressly covenant and agree that I will not, without first obtaining the

written consent of Palladium, during the term of my employment and for one year after the

termination (for whatever reason) of my employment, either directly or indirectly, (a) solicit or

attempt to solicit business from any person who has done business with the Company

during the term of my employment with the Company or with whom the Company is

discussing the commencement of business relations at the time of my termination, or (b)

induce or attempt to induce any person who is at the time in question an employee of the

Company to terminate his or her employment with the Company.

Accepted Answer

Hello again,

Based on the language of the agreement, and your statement about what you will be doing for the new company, I don't see any violation of the noncompete. There is nothing in the language of the agreement that says you cannot go to work for another company, it merely says that you cannot solicit them for business. That is a completely different thing that envisions direct competition for customers. Since you would not be doing that in your new capacity then the agreement is not violated. The last clause just means that you can't contact some of your old coworkers and try to steal them away to work with you at your new company. The courts interpret noncompete agreements very narrowly and if there is a question as to meaning give the nod to the former employee as a matter of public policy. In today's economic environment the courts or even less amenable to restrictive noncompete agreements.

Picture
Expert: MarshaDMD
Pos. Feedback: 100.0 %
Accepts: 
Answered: 8/20/2009

Lawyer

FL and OK licensed attorney with 23 yrs. exp. in gen.prac. and employment law

+
Read More

Related Employment Law Questions

  • I had my 90 day review and it was bad because of a equal par...
  • I live in Racine, WI. 2 months ago i got my first job making
  • I live in Pennsylvania. I am employed as CDL class A truck
  • Iam recieving unemployment benefits, my former employerappea...
  • My husband was recently "terminated" at his banking job of
  • I manage a retail store that is closing due to a bankruptcy
  • I have worked for my recent company for appx 2 months, I sta...
  • aCCORDING TO nEW Jersey State Ethnics law. can a former Comm...



Disclaimer: Information in questions, answers, and other posts on this site ("Posts") comes from individual users, not JustAnswer; JustAnswer is not responsible for Posts. Posts are for general information, are not intended to substitute for informed professional advice (medical, legal, veterinary, financial, etc.), or to establish a professional-client relationship. The site and services are provided "as is" with no warranty or representations by JustAnswer regarding the qualifications of Experts. To see what credentials have been verified by a third-party service, please click on the "Verified" symbol in some Experts' profiles. JustAnswer is not intended or designed for EMERGENCY questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals.
Question List | Become an Expert | Terms of Service | Security & Privacy | About Us
© 2003-2009 JustAnswer Corp.