Legal Question in Employment Law in Washington

Noncompetition agreement

I am a Owner / operater and

I had a contract with a No compete and non solicitation in it,,I did not know what that ment when i sign it,,In shortone of there customer stopped doing business with them and i stopped working for them and then this other customer wanted to have me do this work.

Now they want me to stop what i am doing, and this is the only form of income that i have. I did not solicit this customer. I have a bi-polar disorder and i feel that they forced me to stop delivering for them, having me work 14 hours a day and asking me to drive sometime 12 or 14 hrs a day. they were not very sensitive to the stress and anxity that it was causing me. They also denied me to keep an appointment with my mental health doctor because they did not have any one to drive that day..this also cause a lot of stress on me,,


Asked on 3/23/07, 8:56 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Susan Beecher Susan L. Beecher, Atty at Law

Re: Noncompetition agreement

Much depends on how the contract was written, and I would have to read it before I could tell you anything firm. So my comments which follow are "maybe"s.

Having said that, it would seem to me that your employer is trying to have things both ways. They want to define you as an employee for purposes of having you sign a non-compete, but they want to define you as a contractor when it comes to determining your hours.

I would have to research it further, but I also think there is a limit on how many hours per day you can drive. (This is a safety issue, not an employee rights issue.) Arguably, you should have refused to exceed them, but arguably they are also at fault for insisting you drive them.

I think there may be enough basis to argue they should not be able to enforce the contract, but I would have to read it first.

Read more
Answered on 3/23/07, 9:23 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Labor and Employment Law questions and answers in Washington