Employment Law Forum Index Noncompete, nondisclosure, and nonsolicitation agreements are dealt with under the general category of contracts and unfair competition law. Unfortunately, court interpretations and application of this statute to actual cases has led to uncertainty in this area of law. Despite proper sounding labels, such agreements may constitute unlawful restrictions to a California citizen's right to work. Battles over noncompete agreements are often emotionally vicious, akin to a messy divorce.
Noncompete agreements are a contentious area of employmen t law.
Typically, the employer seeks to enforce noncompete agreements so to prevent ex-employees from going to work for a competitor, stealing the employer's clients or customers, or to stop the former employee from establishing or operating a business in direct or indirect competition against the former employer. More often than not, the employer has the means to hire lawyers, file a lawsuit and expend significant sums of money to attempt enforcement of its noncompete agreements. The bigger the company, the more money it can and will spend to win noncompete wars. Typically, ex-employees do not have much money to fight noncompete wars. In contrast, an ex-employee typically wants a noncompete agreement declared illegal and unenforceable on the basis that such agreements violate California law and public policy recognizing that all persons within California have a right to work, and that any agreement that diminishes a citizen's right to work is void as a matter of law.