Did you sign Google's noncompete? Good, you're fired

http://valleywag.com/378444/did-you-sign-googles-noncompete-good-youre-fired

by ingenium • 18 years ago

35 30 18 years ago

valleywag.com

aneesh• 18 years ago

"Don't be evil ... unless you can profit from it"

cstejerean4• 18 years ago

don't be evil... to your users. employees are company property.

henning• 18 years ago

Yeah, good luck hiring employees to treat as "property". I'm sure you'll get some real winners.

cstejerean4• 18 years ago

I'm assuming most of these people had non-competes signed with DoubleClick. So I'm not entirely sure what the problem is here. And yes, even if you're going to work for a single day you need to sign the standard noncompete agreements.

amichail• 18 years ago

Maybe Google didn't like the non-compete signed with DoubleClick.

dcurtis2• 18 years ago

It didn't cover Google's properties.

mattmaroon3• 18 years ago

That's brutal. "engage in any employment, business or activity that is competitive with the Company's businesses"

There aren't many tech companies that can't be said to be competing with Google in one way or another. Assuming "the Company" means Google rather than Doubleclick (and it must) that makes them nearly unemployable.

"solicit business from, do business with or render services to, in any capacity, directly or indirectly, any entity that is or was a Company client or customer within the last twelve months of my employment with the Company, for a purpose or in a manner that is in any way competitive with the Company's business."

i.e., can't sell ads to anyone who used AdSense?

This is incredibly evil.

nazgulnarsil• 18 years ago

courts won't enforce these. this is retarded.

far33d• 18 years ago

Doesn't matter. First thing you sign when you join a new employer is an agreement that says something like "I am not under any other company's non-compete".

While this might not be enforceable, if you were a small company in a similar space, would you really risk hiring someone if you might get attacked by Google's lawyers?

dcurtis2• 18 years ago

Might be good publicity, but also somewhat of a risk, if you were sued.

gregwebs• 18 years ago

Yes, I would if I were in the state of California. If you were small, google wouldn't notice anyways.

chollida1• 18 years ago

Hmm, that's a great point I hadn't thought of before.

From an employer's perspective I can clearly see given 2 identical candidates why you might want to shy away from the one who has signed a non-compete with a company known for having alot of lawyers like Google or Microsoft.

KiwiNige• 18 years ago

You have a basic right to earn a living, no contract can take that away from you. It's not worth the paper it written on.

gojomo• 18 years ago

It's not that simple -- it depends state-by-state and case-by-case. But California, especially, and New York are both very much for the employee's right to compete in such matters. I understand Nevada and Texas, not as much.

kirubakaran• 18 years ago

This is as evil as it gets.

johnrob• 18 years ago

A non-compete, like any contract, doesn't mean anything until a court actually enforces it. I'm no lawyer, but given the circumstances, I doubt these contracts will hold up in court well. Also, I'm pretty sure non-compete clauses are less enforcable when the employer does the termination.

w3stfa11• 18 years ago

Why are we linking to flamebait Valleywag? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=160704

philippp2• 18 years ago

Because this is a legit story and prime argument as to why blanket bans are imperfect?

mnemonicsloth• 18 years ago

!(!evil)

philippp2• 18 years ago

Non-competes don't stand up in court. Who would sign this type of agreement, though? I've signed non-competes before, but "I agree to provide a copy of this Agreement to any person or entities seeking to hire me before accepting employment with or engagement by any such person or entity." is insane.

I've never been so glad to not have taken a Google job.

simianstyle• 18 years ago

damn you valleywag

siculars• 18 years ago

never sign non-competes. just say no.

boredguy8• 18 years ago

Fortunately, unless they were promoted or given a bonus for signing the agreement, it's pointless:

_Provide a Benefit to the Employee_

Next, you must provide a benefit to the employee in exchange for his or her promise not to compete against you. Making a job offer contingent on signing a noncompete agreement probably satisfies this requirement, since the employee is receiving a benefit (a job) in exchange for the promise. It's more difficult to provide an existing employee with a benefit, but generally, coupling the agreement with a promotion or a raise will do the trick.

http://tinyurl.com/yvaqb4

Did you sign Google's noncompete? Good, you're fired

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