Hope this is the right subforum. Anyway...
My significant other was looking for work about a year ago and spoke to an IT temp agency. He signed a series of contracts, including a noncompete agreement, and interviewed with potential clients, but never actually took a job through the temp agency and never received any compensation from them. A few days after he met with one of the potential clients of the temp agency, that client contacted him and asked him to work for them without going through the temp agency. He agree and took a job with them, and has now been working for them for nearly a year.
The temp agency recently found out and made a threatening call to his employer about violation of the noncompete (no specific threats, just expressing anger). I'm trying to determine whether the noncompete is actually enforceable in this case. My understanding is that there must be some compensation for a noncompete, and here he was never hired out or paid by the temp agency. In addition, I think from my research that in New York noncompete agreements for IT workers can only be enforced for up to six months, but I'm unsure what retroactive enforcement looks like after those six months are up.
Also, as a practical matter, I suspect he's probably not worth their time to pursue. Even if he might be liable under the noncompete, do you think they will find it worth their while to follow up?
Thank you for your help!
My significant other was looking for work about a year ago and spoke to an IT temp agency. He signed a series of contracts, including a noncompete agreement, and interviewed with potential clients, but never actually took a job through the temp agency and never received any compensation from them. A few days after he met with one of the potential clients of the temp agency, that client contacted him and asked him to work for them without going through the temp agency. He agree and took a job with them, and has now been working for them for nearly a year.
The temp agency recently found out and made a threatening call to his employer about violation of the noncompete (no specific threats, just expressing anger). I'm trying to determine whether the noncompete is actually enforceable in this case. My understanding is that there must be some compensation for a noncompete, and here he was never hired out or paid by the temp agency. In addition, I think from my research that in New York noncompete agreements for IT workers can only be enforced for up to six months, but I'm unsure what retroactive enforcement looks like after those six months are up.
Also, as a practical matter, I suspect he's probably not worth their time to pursue. Even if he might be liable under the noncompete, do you think they will find it worth their while to follow up?
Thank you for your help!