Non Compete, Told I Cannot Work in My Field(It) for One Year with in 50 Miles
My question involves employment and labor law for the state of: KY
Here is whats going on.
Gave noticed to a small 6 people IT company here in town.. Got a job offer for quite a bit more money and benfits at a hospital company who is huge 200k people.
Gave notice get called in today and let go, and told that I am breaking my non compete, the reason they give is i am doing a similar job ( IT work) for the hospital. Which is no way a client of ours, they do how ever own a small clinic who we used to do work for allmost 2 years ago. At that time they where not owned by the company whom i will be working for.
So they had a lawyer send a letter to the hospital, and gave me on saying that since I am doing IT work with in 50 miles I am violating my agreement.
This all may be null since I am "working" out of nashville and just assigned to a hospital in my area which could change at any time.
Any input?
I can post copy's of the NCA and the lawyer letter if need be.
Re: Non Compete, Told I Cannot Work in My Field(It) for One Year with in 50 Miles
To the best of my knowledge we have no experts in KY contract law here, and it does make a difference. Different states have different definitions of what constitutes an enforceable non-compete and what is too restrictive. You should, however, show it to an attorney in your state who is knowledgeable about employment and contract law.
Re: Non Compete, Told I Cannot Work in My Field(It) for One Year with in 50 Miles
Regardless of the state, no non-compete prohibiting you from working in an entire industrial or business segment within 50 miles is enforceable to the best of my knowledge. Non-competes are enforceable when limited and when specific business knowledge is involved.
Obviously there is no knowledge attributable to that one company that would be transferred to a competitor. Clearly the hospital is not a competitor. Clearly the 6 person company is not an industry leader or even of any consequence, nor would have trade secrets of any value.
Obviously a 6 person company does not have the resources needed to try to enforce such a contract in court and I would give their chance of winning such a contract claim at slim to none.
Re: Non Compete, Told I Cannot Work in My Field(It) for One Year with in 50 Miles
This is what Ky. says about noncompetes.
Noncompetes are enforceable if the covenants are "reasonable in scope and purpose." Reasonableness is to be determined generally "by the nature of the business or profession and employment, and the scope of the restrictions with respect to the charter, duration, and territorial extent." If a court determines that a provision is overly broad, it may blue pencil the agreement to create a reasonable restriction. Additionally, a noncompete agreement may be unenforceable against a terminated employee.
You will need to take your agreement to an employment contract attorney in your area for review as suggested for their opinion on its enforceability. They should know what the courts in Ky. consider reasonable in scope & purpose, etc.