On 11/14/05 4:19 PM, "Doug McGarrett" <dmcgarrett@optonline.net> wrote:
The company I worked for for 21 years made me sign an agreement when I was hired, that if I left for any reason, I would not work in the same business for 2 years after leaving. I assume that this was/is legally binding in the United States. This was a Fortune 500 company, so they must have had good lawyers.
--doug
Don't bet on it. They can't restrict your right to make a living at what you do. Many, many companies do things that aren't exactly legal, knowing that the person will assume that it must be right. My wife and I both went after different companies for back pay and other things. They never had a clue that we knew what they had us sign was not legally binding. We wanted a paycheck, so we signed. When it was time to leave, we spoke to different lawyers, they read the contracts and said we didn't need them. Things were a matter of US federal law...just mention what law and they will back down. We did just that and got our money in days. Corporate America thinks they can bully the public and employees around. If you read any contract, many if not most will say each party has the right to end the contract at any time, for any reason. But it's in very fine print. So in the end, as my lawyer said, "it's just a piece of paper. We have many and they are all worth the same. It's all a matter of how much of a stink they want to put up." I've got out of T1 contracts, DSL contracts, cell contacts, all types of things knowing what he told me. Companies try to do what ever they want, knowing the public won't do anything. Hell, my alarm company just last week tried to get me to pay for a new battery, for a system they own. Why would I pay for something they own? That's Brinks for you... -- Thanks, George