What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Virginia
My position was eliminated by my employer in January. I was asked to
sign a non compete if I wanted my severance package. In the state that
I was in, and being naive, I signed the non compete. There are still 6
months for this non compete to expire. Now, I have a job offer from a
competitor, but my non compete states that:
"For the period of one year, you agree not to contact in any manner on
my own behalf or on the behalf of any other person or entity, any
customer of (the company), its parent company, or sister companies for
the purpose of directly or indirectly attempting to solicit, divert or
take away the business or patronage of such clients or customers of
(the company), its affiliates, corporate parents, or related
entities".
"You acknowledge that you have carefully read and considered paragraph
6 above, and having done so, you agree that the restrictions set forth
in paragraph 6 are fair and reasonable, and legitimately required for
the protection of (the company's) business, interests and goodwill.
In the event that any part or portion of paragraph 6 is deemed by any
court or jurisdiction to be overboard or otherwise invalid, you
authorize the said court to to enforce paragraph 6 above to the
fullest extent possible to protect the interests of (the company). In
addition, you agree that damages in the event of a breach by you to
paragraph 6 above, would be difficult if not impossible to ascertain,
and you therefore agree that if such breach occurs, (the company) in
addition to and without limiting any other remedy or right it may
have, shall have the right to injunction or any other equitable
relief, in any court of competent jurisdiction, enjoining any such
breach, and you hereby waive any and all defences you may have on
grounds of lack of jurisdiction or competence of the court to grant
such an injunction or equitable relief."
Now, to be able to hire me, my prospective employer needs my ex
employer to either divulge a whole list of clients of the entire
group, since they expect me not to solicit to ANY of them.( I am not
aware of the entire group client list as I did not come into contact
with all of them) OR, modify clause 6 so that it encompasses ONLY the
clients of my ex company that I personally interacted with OR release
me from the non compete completely. Keep in mind that my position is
that of a customer service representative, and I am NOT involved in
sales. However my prospective company feels that the clause is all
encompassing and excessive, and vague, and they need to know the names
of all the clients before they can hire me so that there is no
inadvertant violation of the clause after hire.
My question is this - In the event that my ex employer refuses to help
out by modifying or removing the clause in the non compete, Is there
any way that I can I force my ex employer to give me a list of clients
that they expect me to stay away from since the premise of this clause
surrounds them?
My position was eliminated by my employer in January. I was asked to
sign a non compete if I wanted my severance package. In the state that
I was in, and being naive, I signed the non compete. There are still 6
months for this non compete to expire. Now, I have a job offer from a
competitor, but my non compete states that:
"For the period of one year, you agree not to contact in any manner on
my own behalf or on the behalf of any other person or entity, any
customer of (the company), its parent company, or sister companies for
the purpose of directly or indirectly attempting to solicit, divert or
take away the business or patronage of such clients or customers of
(the company), its affiliates, corporate parents, or related
entities".
"You acknowledge that you have carefully read and considered paragraph
6 above, and having done so, you agree that the restrictions set forth
in paragraph 6 are fair and reasonable, and legitimately required for
the protection of (the company's) business, interests and goodwill.
In the event that any part or portion of paragraph 6 is deemed by any
court or jurisdiction to be overboard or otherwise invalid, you
authorize the said court to to enforce paragraph 6 above to the
fullest extent possible to protect the interests of (the company). In
addition, you agree that damages in the event of a breach by you to
paragraph 6 above, would be difficult if not impossible to ascertain,
and you therefore agree that if such breach occurs, (the company) in
addition to and without limiting any other remedy or right it may
have, shall have the right to injunction or any other equitable
relief, in any court of competent jurisdiction, enjoining any such
breach, and you hereby waive any and all defences you may have on
grounds of lack of jurisdiction or competence of the court to grant
such an injunction or equitable relief."
Now, to be able to hire me, my prospective employer needs my ex
employer to either divulge a whole list of clients of the entire
group, since they expect me not to solicit to ANY of them.( I am not
aware of the entire group client list as I did not come into contact
with all of them) OR, modify clause 6 so that it encompasses ONLY the
clients of my ex company that I personally interacted with OR release
me from the non compete completely. Keep in mind that my position is
that of a customer service representative, and I am NOT involved in
sales. However my prospective company feels that the clause is all
encompassing and excessive, and vague, and they need to know the names
of all the clients before they can hire me so that there is no
inadvertant violation of the clause after hire.
My question is this - In the event that my ex employer refuses to help
out by modifying or removing the clause in the non compete, Is there
any way that I can I force my ex employer to give me a list of clients
that they expect me to stay away from since the premise of this clause
surrounds them?
