Legal Question in Employment Law in Virginia
I live in Virginia. My contracting firm made me sign a "non-compete" agreement. The client I am now assigned to is ending the contract with my contracting company at the end of February 2010. The State agency client has been directed to convert contractors to state employees for the project they have me working on. The client will be posting a direct hire opening for an FTE position and is requesting me to apply for this position so that they can make me a state employee. If the contracting firm does not have another positon to offer me for the same pay or offer paid bench time, can they prevent me from working with this client? What would the legal ramifications be if I did accept an offer for employment from the State?
1 Answer from Attorneys
If you accept the FTE position before March 2010, you might possibly be sued (although probably not too likely since you're apparently near the end of the contract).
However, under the circumstances described, you still might be better
advised to wait until March 1, 2010, before starting to work in the new position