Legal Question in Employment Law in Florida
Non-compete agreement
In 2004, I got a pay raise; I was told I had to sign a non-compete by the HR manager. I signed and she forged my GM's signature stating that it wasn't enforceable anyway. The agreement was for 2 years with no geographical boundaries. When I left, they tried to enforce it against my new employer, a competitor even though I moved over 450 miles away from my previous work location. When they sent me a copy with my lawsuit threat letter, the copy clearly showed different signatures and indicated that white-out had been used on the document that had been copied. The original was forged, it was unreasonable due to lack of specific geographical area restriction, and other employees with more important info and trade secrets were allowed to work for competitors with no regard to their non-compete. I purposely moved away from my home over 450 miles and have not worked within that area in competition of my previous employer for nearly a year. With all of the details mentioned above, I feel the agreement should be considered void and I should be allowed to return to my home area to work with my current employer without regard to this fraudulent non-compete agreement. What recourse do I have and should the agreement be considered void?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Non-compete agreement
With respect to the enforceability of the contract, the answer is "it depends." In some cases, even nationwide restrictions are reasonable. One would have to look at the contract as a whole to give a firm opinion. If the enforceability of this contract is vital to your career and choice of places to live, it is probably worth taking it to a lawyer who will give you a firm opinion and respond to any threats from your former employer. With respect to the signatures, it may or may not be an issue. Theoretically, only your signature may have been required to enforce the restrictions against you. Also, it is not necessarily a problem that the appropriate officer signed later. Again, one would have to review the documents. That said, using white-out and changing the signature is not a point in their favor and may hurt them in a lawsuit. Finally, what other employees have/have not done is generally not relevant to your contract. So... you can 1) do what you want to do, and wait and see if they try to cause trouble, 2) seek a qualified opinion of the enforceability of your contract and be ready to respond to the old employer and any new employers who have concern, or 3) have the lawyer file a declaratory action (lawsuit) against the employer to get a determination that the contract is unenfirceable.
Re: Non-compete agreement
To add the Mr. Riddle's answer, there are three factors courts look at: 1) geographical scope of restriction, 2) length of time of restriction, and 3) scope of activities included in the restriction. In general, all three must be limited to the type of work you did while employed.
If you would like to discuss any issues further, please feel free to contact my office. My contact information is below. Thank you.
The foregoing is general information only, not specific legal advice. No attorney/client relation has been created or should be implied.
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