Non-compete

[lothfam]

My son lives and works in Indiana. Two years ago he started working for a Dance studio as a dance instructor and he signed a non-compete agreement. He was let go (I think the main reason is the economy). They did say they will give him a 4 week severance. Is he still bound by the non-compete agreement? It says he can not work for a competitor or even a sister of this franchise within the city or county, or a radius of 25 miles, which ever is greater for 2 years.

 

[Beth3]

Your son needs to show the agreement to a local attorney. Nobody can comment on an agreement they haven't read.

 

[Andy0192]

I'll just throw in that if someone signs a non-compete agreement, it's better if they show it to an attorney first, before they sign it!

There are legitimate reasons why a company needs to protect it's intellectual property or client lists, and also to keep competitors from using their company as a training ground, but there are also plenty of people who end up giving away their rights & signing forms that are far more restrictive than the line of work would entail.

Are there proprietary dance steps or methods being taught? Did the company have some high end client list they needed to protect?

I can't think of too many good reasons a dance studio would need a non-compete agreement. Especially one that would carry on after the company made the decision to end the employer/employee relationship.

 

[Beth3]

I can't think of too many good reasons a dance studio would need a non-compete agreement. I can. Dance instructor leaves to start his own dance studio or go to work for a competitor and takes a bunch of clients with him or her. I can only guess this dance studio learned this lesson the hard way and subsequently instituted non-compete agreements. That's how these things typically come about.