Employment Contract

What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania

I work for an internet marketing corp and have been approached by one of my clients in california about a job opportunity. In my employment contract there is a no compete clause stating that I can not work for another internet marketing business for 18 months after termination for the company. I was not paid a signing bonus and am still in my 90 day probationary period. Do I have the option to get out of my contract or could I face legal action because i signed a contract. The contract is not for a specified length of time. It is at will.

It depends entirely on the wording of the contract. We cannot interprete a contract we have not read. You will have to show it to a local attorney.

Employee Contract

Pennsylvania:

The exact wording in the contact is as follows:
Upon termination of employment with Company, Individual is not permitted to take,any confidential information with them nor are they permitted to communicate or disclose confidential information to any person or firm outside of company. All confidential information such as business policies, customer lists, personal contact information, etc gathered by individual while employed by company is property of company and individual is not permitted to take this information. In addition, individual agress that they will not work for a competitor in the internet direct marketing business for a period of 18 months following the end of their employment with company. Internet marketing companies include companies that engage in online coupons and discounts, online point systems, affiliate marketing, advertising network marketing and advertising, email marketing and advertising, and online gift certificate advertising and marketing. If individual violates this clause, company will take legal actions against individual and individual agrees to have the case tried in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Individual also agrees to cover company legal expenses should they lose the court case.

It is likely that the fact that the agreement has not put a geographic limit on the prospective employer that this agreement might not hold up. Basically, it means that you are prohibited from earning a living in the same type of company for 18 months anywhere in the world, and that is just too broad, IMHO.

However, I'm basing this on advice from my previous company's attorneys regarding wording of non-competes. I don't know specifically what the courts in Pennsylvania would say. It would still be worth it, in my opinion, to meet with a local employment attorney experienced in this area to get their take on it. You can do this pretty cheaply. Most major cities' bar associations have a legal referral service where you can have a 30-minute meeting with an attorney for under $50. At least, he/she could tell you if this is worth pursuing.

Good luck.

staceyc said:

individual agress that they will not work for a competitor in the internet direct marketing business for a period of 18 months following the end of their employment with company.

Click to expand...

I agree with Patty in that the above restriction seems overly restrictive.... and would likely NOT be valid.

In order to be deemed reasonable (and thus, be enforced), a non-compete covenant must strike a balance between the protection of the employer’s legitimate business interests and the protection of the employee’s ability to earn a living. In drafting non-compete covenants, an employer must carefully consider the specific interests it is trying to protect and the time and geographic area restrictions that are necessary to prevent damage to the employer’s business. For example, a reasonable time period might be one that is necessary for the employer to locate and train a replacement employee. Similarly, a reasonable geographic area would be the area in which the employee works or with which the employee has significant contact. Even if the employer has a national business, if the employee is involved only with the employer’s business in a particular (more limited) area, a reasonable geographic area may be only the more limited area.

I agree that you should have a local attorney review the agreement.... and draft a letter to your (ex)employer as to the 'over-extending' of their agreement.

For more, go to:
http://www.katzlawoffice.com/noncomp.htm
http://www.soglaw.com/noncompetearticletext.htm