Blue Dragon
Can't Re-Member
So I'm sittin here stressin out, probably because there isn't a d@mn thing I can do but wait. I am being sued by my previous employer for leaving his company and going to work for the competition. The lawsuit started back in December, but the critical day, at least the one leg I'm standing on, is coming up this Monday, summary judgement.
Why am I being sued? Well, good question. Yes, I signed a non-compete agreement when I was hired, and that is what they are sueing about. When I was hoping to be hired, I really needed a job; I read the non-compete agreement and thought it was ludacrice (sp?). But I needed a job, so I raised questions about it, which were replied with, "Well, we have never enforced this contract in the 20 years I have been working here. We would only go after someone if they stole from us. We know you are going to probably gain knowledge and move on, but hope that we make an ally that we can do business with at your new company." So I signed it. Let this be a warning to anyone that they better get this sort of thing in writing and signed, else it is all heresay.
I left the company because I felt like I got screwed and I wasn't very happy to begin with; the company said they would do X and didn't follow through. This time it was because I tried to do what was right by the customer, and my old company said they would make it up to me. I stayed in Anchorage, AK over labor day weekend, which I had vacation plans with my family, to help fix an installation that went horribly wrong to no fault of my own; it was all hardware related, and I was supposed to do the software piece. So I gave up my vacation and got the job done (and had the pleasure of meeting Swissy and PetersCreek).
My company said I could take some days off later to make up for the vacation ... but I didn't get it in writing. Later in the month, there is this company wide emphasis to make sure you let everyone know if you are going to be gone, so I sent an email, after approving it with my manager, that I was going to be gone for the last two days of a week to work on my house. Well, one of the owners said my email made it look like they were giving me comp time, and it is the company policy to not give comp time. So if I wanted to take that time off, I would have to use my earned vacation days. This pissed me off to no end ... now, not only do I loose 4 days of vacation that I had planned with my family, I have to loose 2 more because I did what I was supposed to do? WTF!?!
At that point I decided to have a different job by the first of the year, and I didn't care who with. I had feelers out to a couple companies, and then I was approached by the competition. Previously, I didn't want to screw my employers by working for the competition, but now I could care less. They made an offer, and I started the first part of Dec.
The old sales rep that I used to support was no longer working for "the company" but working for a manufacturer. He told the owners that they should go after me and my friend for leaving, and they thought it was a good idea. There were plenty of people who had left the company and started to work for a competitor, but I guess they had it in for me (as this goes on it definitely seems personal for some reason). SO again, get whatever your employer says in writing.
Before I accepted the offer with the competition, I checked into the validity of the non-compete I signed. Because basically it says that for 1 year I can't work for the competiton or any previous customer of "the company" within a 50 mile radius of the 6 major cities in ID. And since the company has been around for over 20 years, it pretty much would mean that I would have to move out of state to get a job in my field. Counsel said that it was an unreasonable burden and that it wouldn't hold up in court. Now I get to see if she was right. My lawyer put as one of the arguments in the brief that according to the non-compete agreement I couldn't even get a job as a janitor in Ontario, which is on the border of Oregon.
So wish me luck; I just needed to vent a little. I have saved a Taboada Salamone for a special occasion, and if we win, I smoke that to celebrate.
Thanks,
- C
Why am I being sued? Well, good question. Yes, I signed a non-compete agreement when I was hired, and that is what they are sueing about. When I was hoping to be hired, I really needed a job; I read the non-compete agreement and thought it was ludacrice (sp?). But I needed a job, so I raised questions about it, which were replied with, "Well, we have never enforced this contract in the 20 years I have been working here. We would only go after someone if they stole from us. We know you are going to probably gain knowledge and move on, but hope that we make an ally that we can do business with at your new company." So I signed it. Let this be a warning to anyone that they better get this sort of thing in writing and signed, else it is all heresay.
I left the company because I felt like I got screwed and I wasn't very happy to begin with; the company said they would do X and didn't follow through. This time it was because I tried to do what was right by the customer, and my old company said they would make it up to me. I stayed in Anchorage, AK over labor day weekend, which I had vacation plans with my family, to help fix an installation that went horribly wrong to no fault of my own; it was all hardware related, and I was supposed to do the software piece. So I gave up my vacation and got the job done (and had the pleasure of meeting Swissy and PetersCreek).
My company said I could take some days off later to make up for the vacation ... but I didn't get it in writing. Later in the month, there is this company wide emphasis to make sure you let everyone know if you are going to be gone, so I sent an email, after approving it with my manager, that I was going to be gone for the last two days of a week to work on my house. Well, one of the owners said my email made it look like they were giving me comp time, and it is the company policy to not give comp time. So if I wanted to take that time off, I would have to use my earned vacation days. This pissed me off to no end ... now, not only do I loose 4 days of vacation that I had planned with my family, I have to loose 2 more because I did what I was supposed to do? WTF!?!
At that point I decided to have a different job by the first of the year, and I didn't care who with. I had feelers out to a couple companies, and then I was approached by the competition. Previously, I didn't want to screw my employers by working for the competition, but now I could care less. They made an offer, and I started the first part of Dec.
The old sales rep that I used to support was no longer working for "the company" but working for a manufacturer. He told the owners that they should go after me and my friend for leaving, and they thought it was a good idea. There were plenty of people who had left the company and started to work for a competitor, but I guess they had it in for me (as this goes on it definitely seems personal for some reason). SO again, get whatever your employer says in writing.
Before I accepted the offer with the competition, I checked into the validity of the non-compete I signed. Because basically it says that for 1 year I can't work for the competiton or any previous customer of "the company" within a 50 mile radius of the 6 major cities in ID. And since the company has been around for over 20 years, it pretty much would mean that I would have to move out of state to get a job in my field. Counsel said that it was an unreasonable burden and that it wouldn't hold up in court. Now I get to see if she was right. My lawyer put as one of the arguments in the brief that according to the non-compete agreement I couldn't even get a job as a janitor in Ontario, which is on the border of Oregon.
So wish me luck; I just needed to vent a little. I have saved a Taboada Salamone for a special occasion, and if we win, I smoke that to celebrate.
Thanks,
- C
), but from what I have seen, and what my lawyers told me, I don't think I would worry too awful much if I were you. Proof of anything is relative in these cases unless you are handing out business cards with your previous employers secrets printed on them! 
