Legal Question in Business Law in Michigan

I live in Michigan. My wife started a new career a year ago where her boss sent her to school and paid for it and in return she has to work for her for two years. If she quits or gets fired we would owe her the money for school. A year into it she was givin a new non compete form stating that if she quits or is fired she can not work in the dog business for a year or she could be fine 15k each offense. As little as walking a dog for side money could do this by the terminology. This doesn’t seem legal to me she is under a contract already is she required to sign this new one. If she doesn’t and does loose her job are we liable for the money for school?


Asked on 9/26/18, 4:12 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Brad Lambert Lambert & Lambert PLC

As a general proposition, it is legal to require your wife to sign a new contract and impose a non-compete clause. There are all kinds of qualifiers on that statement which could render the clause illegal or potentially unenforceable; all of that is too detailed to cover in this response. One point that is rather clear, however, is that $15K per offense (even minor ones) is excessive. It also appears that she may not have the kind of trade secrets or confidential information which would justify a non-compete of any kind.

These qualifiers alone do not excuse her from signing the new contract. I can't advise you on your question in this forum without seeing the contract. If you would like to discuss this further please contact me at [email protected].

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Answered on 9/27/18, 6:34 am


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