Hi all,
I recently got laid off in February. My employers sent me a separation package, I did not get a lot of time to read all the details as they gave 4 days, which included the weekend, to sign this document. A copy of the agreement was never given to me as well. Recently, I requested for a copy of the separation document and read it thoroughly. I discovered that I am to abide to a non complete agreement, which I signed when I started with the company. The non complete agreement is for 3 years from they day I got laid off.
Unfortunately, I signed this agreement without consulting a lawyer because I was in no position to do so.
I have not found a job, the overall job market is thin and people are still getting laid off, I may be wrong. I am now looking at starting my own company as I am not finding any success in the job market.
My former employer is a 20 billion dollar company. I was with the company for almost 2 years and for severance got 3 weeks pay and was entitle to the 2014 annual bonus performance pay. The agreement now seems very one sided.
The question I have for anyone who may know about non compete and loyalty agreements is, if I start my own company and compete with my former employer in the same industry and they decide to sue me, will the non compete clause be upheld in a court of law or will the courts deem this an unreasonable agreement due to circumstantial situation?
Thanks for reading