
Judge rules Ex-Microsoft GM can't work in his new Salesforce job - ssclafani
http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2011/02/judge-former-microsoft-gm-cant-work.html
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aidenn0
Oh yeah, add the unenforcability of non-compete agreements in California as
one more factor in the success of silicon valley.

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oniTony
This is what I'm finding weird. At the very end of the article, it does
mention just this:

> Non-compete contracts have previously been upheld in Washington state
> courts. In California, where Salesforce.com is based, non-compete contracts
> have repeatedly been found invalid.

So is the guy choosing to stay in Washington, or is this some cross-state non-
compete magic?

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jcarreiro
IANAL, but I have signed non-competes before. I am sure that the contract he
signed states that disputes must be litigated in WA.

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millerc
About time we see consequences for signing a non-compete agreements, if you
ask me. Everyone I know signs these without giving it more consideration than
running a yellow light, and expect to run away free the day after they leave.

~~~
hartror
So you agree with the concept of a non-compete agreement for all types of
employees?

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millerc
I despise them with all my soul. But I agree to be bound to my word, and
signing a contract is as much "giving your word" as can be.

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tptacek
Not for nothing, but the noncompete situation for a GM isn't the same as the
situation for general staff. It's easy for me to get up-in-arms about the harm
noncompetes cause developers and marketers and operations people. Less so for
someone with P&L responsibility.

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absconditus
So what is the man supposed to do for employment?

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tzs
Presumably Salesforce can find something else useful for him to do for the one
year term of the non-compete agreement. It doesn't prohibit him from working
at a Microsoft competitor. It only prohibits him from working in a role
directly competing with what he did at Microsoft.

~~~
absconditus
So basically the role that he is most qualified for. Would Salesforce have
hired him if they knew that he could not perform the job for a year?

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chollida1
> Would Salesforce have hired him if they knew that he could not perform the
> job for a year?

They essentially did. I doubt very much that Salesforce didn't know about the
non compete and they there was a very good chance it would be enforced, since
it's not the first time a Microsoft non-compete has been challenged and
upheld.

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iuygtfhnjmn
I bet they aren't planning to sue the new boss of Nokia though !

~~~
m0nastic
For starters, they can chose to enforce a non-compete agreement or not,
they're not required to go after every ex-employee (it's not like upholding a
trademark).

Secondly, by all accounts Elop took the position with the full blessing of
Microsoft (conspiracy theorists will bring up the "trojan horse" as a reason,
but it doesn't have to be that fantastical).

Thirdly, you could make a very good argument that Nokia is not a direct
competitor to Microsoft. Microsoft doesn't make phones, they license a
smartphone operating system. Nokia makes smartphones, which use two operating
systems (one of which they don't own, the other of which they didn't own until
very recently). I suppose they own Series 40, but that's not a smartphone
operating system.

~~~
zackattack
this is the worst comment for so many reasons

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m0nastic
I'd be happy to hear at least one.

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iuygtfhnjmn
The complete inability to spot irony ?

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m0nastic
Irony isn't the same thing as snark. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt
that you might actually not understand the difference between the situation
with Nokia and the situation with Salesforce.

If you were just trying to be funny, then my apologies.

~~~
zackattack
he was just trying to be funny. then because you NATURALLY assumed that you
were smarter than him you decided to educate him!

finally, i think it is not possible to make a very good argument that nokia
was not a direct competitor of microsoft.

peace

~~~
m0nastic
I don't assume that I'm smarter than anybody. I also don't assume that people
on here are just trying to be funny (recent influx of Reddit'isms aside),
hence me trying to point out instances where Microsoft wouldn't be holding a
Non-Compete against Elop.

In what market are Microsoft and Nokia direct competitors?

They had a partnership with Nokia for Symbian (Microsoft was developing
Silverlight and allegedly a version of Office, although I don't know if either
really existed).

Nokia's competitors are hardware phone manufacturers, which Microsoft isn't.

You might argue that they are "indirect competitors" because Microsoft makes a
smartphone operating system, and Nokia uses smartphone operating systems made
by someone besides Microsoft. This ignores the fact that Microsoft's customers
are phone makers, and Nokia's customers are consumers.

~~~
zackattack
Steve Ballmer's argument against Iphone = not a business phone

Nokia makes business phones

