Legal Question in Business Law in Washington

Re: Employee

I assume there is not a non-compete agreement of any kind in place. If there is such an agreement, the terms of that agreement would apply unless contrary to law.

If there is no non-compete, the ex-manager and the ex-employer (not sure which one you are, but that doesn't matter) will need to figure out where the fine line is between two sets of laws which pull in different directions.

On the one hand, the ex-manager (barring an agreement that can be enforced) definitely is permitted to go into competition with his/her former employer. The purpose of anti-trust laws is to encourage competition, and if some of the former employer's customers and employees gravitate to the new company as a result of the broad sweep of his or her marketing efforts, I don't think the former employer can do much.

On the other hand, under the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, employers' trade secrets are recognized as a protectable interest even if no agreement is in place. If the former employer made reasonable efforts to keep the customer list secret, the former employee can not specifically target the customers on that list for his or her sales efforts, even if the list was carried off the premises in his/her memory only.