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There's likely to be a certain element of race-to-the-courthouse here. If Szabadi is about to move to California, then Google could file a lawsuit in a state court there, seeking a declaratory judgment that under California law his non-compete is unenforceable. A California court likely would rule in Google's favor --- and if that were the first-filed lawsuit, then it might take priority over any later-filed lawsuit Amazon might bring in Seattle. Something akin to that happened in Application Group, Inc. v. Hunter Group, Inc., 61 Cal. App. 4th 881 (1998) [1] [2].

[1] http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1290227502038697...

[2] http://www.whitecase.com/files/Publication/dcf3d85c-1c1b-4bf...




Don't agreements like this typically include language to the effect of:

"This agreement is entirely enforceable under the laws of the state of ____, under the jurisdiction of a binding arbitrator chosen by the employer, except for injunctions which are handled by the ____ District Court in ____ County?"


Those clauses might not be enforceable though, if they contradict local labour laws.


Yes, otherwise it would be trivial to override labor laws via contract. For all they seem like dolts to us, this isn't the administrative class's first barbeque. Attempts to end-run around the law are regularly shot down.




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