
IBM sues Microsoft’s new chief diversity officer over non-compete agreement - MikusR
https://www.geekwire.com/2018/ibm-sues-microsofts-new-chief-diversity-officer-non-compete-agreement/
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Mononokay
>Microsoft said in a statement, “We’re pleased that Lindsey-Rae decided to
join Microsoft, both to continue to grow in her career and so she, her husband
and their three young children could be closer to her parents and extended
family on the West Coast. We have no interest in any of IBM’s confidential
information.”

>In a declaration filed with the court, McIntyre says, “For diversity work to
be effective, it has to be specific and customized to the company and
workforce at issue. My work at Microsoft must be centered on Microsoft’s
corporate culture and its internal goals as an organization, which are
entirely distinct from IBM’s culture and goals. Similarly, inclusion focuses
on what it feels like to belong and is entirely focused on management and
culture. Therefore, while the work that IBM (or any other technology company)
does on these issues may be interesting, it is not practically useful in my
role at Microsoft.”

How exactly are Microsoft and Mrs. McIntyre trying to justify this? Both of
their statements are effectively, "Oh don't worry, we have no interest in IBM
secrets, and aren't competing with our direct competitor, no way no how."

>"IBM surprisingly seeks a draconian temporary restraining order and
preliminary injunction to prevent McIntyre from working -- for an entire year,
in any position, anywhere in the world, for any company IBM deems to be a
‘competitor’ in any dimension"

This would make sense, if Microsoft and IBM weren't directly competing in
multiple areas. See:

[https://www.ibm.com/cloud/](https://www.ibm.com/cloud/) vs
[http://azure.microsoft.com/](http://azure.microsoft.com/)

[https://www.ibm.com/watson/](https://www.ibm.com/watson/) vs
[https://www.microsoft.com/en-
us/ai/default.aspx](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ai/default.aspx)

And in a fair deal of their open source projects:

[https://github.com/ibm](https://github.com/ibm) vs
[https://github.com/Microsoft](https://github.com/Microsoft)

I personally think Non-Compete Agreements generally aren't reasonable, but she
agreed to it. The case is black and white.

