Legal Question in Business Law in Oregon

Re: Non-compete clause without signature

As you may already have been told, it is highly doubtful an employer can enforce an unsigned non-compete agreement. If you wish to discuss this further, please do not hesitate to telephone me. I have handled several non-compete cases in the past.

Re: Non-compete clause without signature

Your former employer probably does not have an enforceable convenant not to compete. To be valid the contract containing the non-compete clause would have to had been entered into between you and the former employer at the start of employment or as a condition of a bona fide advancement. In your question you stated that you had been working there for more than ten years yet the contract was presented a little more than two year ago. If however the contract was presented at a time that your former employer was offering you a raise and a managerial position (presumable with acess to proprietary information) then this fact would weigh in favor of enforcability. The fact that the employment contract was not signed in important but by itself it is not determinintive. Contracts can be accepted by acquiescence (i.e. you accepted the raise and the managerial position but just didn't sign the contract). The second factor to consider is that non compete clause has to be limited in duration and geographic scope. It has been seven months since you left. A six month restriction would be enforceable; one year maybe; more than one year probably not. Also I don't know where your new driving school is in relationship to your old employer. Right next door or on the other side of town. The further away you are the less likely a court would enforce such a restriction. Finally, your question ask does your former employer have a legal right to pursue this. Anyone has a legal "right" to pursue litigation, but he probably won't prevail if he does. The question then becomes can you recover attorney fees and cost if he does. The employment contract may provide that the prevailing party gets attorney fees and cost, but this is a little tricky since you are arguing that there is no contract. You will be entitled to cost under the Oregon rules of civil procedure, but probably not attorney fees.