Re:Amazon cloud sales chief sued for going Google
by jusben1369 on Monday October 29, 2012 @01:40PM
(#4713453)
Going to be hard to say you didn't want him and so offered him a severance package but then complain on where he landed. $325K is not very much money for someone agreeing not to go to a competitor for 18 months? Weird stuff.
Re:Amazon cloud sales chief sued for going Google
by jivatmanx on Monday October 29, 2012 @02:06PM
(#4713607)
You guessed it, a non-compete clause.
The ability to earn a livelihood is an inalienable right, and I don't understand how it's legally enforceable to have a contractual clause that negates that right.
A clause that one does not reveal confidential information though, is another matter.
Re:Amazon cloud sales chief sued for going Google
by aaronblohowiak on Monday October 29, 2012 @02:59PM
(#4713859)
>The ability to earn a livelihood is an inalienable right, and I don't understand how it's legally enforceable to have a contractual clause that negates that right.
If I pay you $325k to sit on your hands for a year and you take a job requiring you to clap all day, you're in breach of contract.. the fact is that the employee is violating the terms of the severance package, not the employment contract. I think there is a meaningful distinction here.
Re:Amazon cloud sales chief sued for going Google
by jusben1369 on Monday October 29, 2012 @02:30PM
(#4713712)
Yeah I can see where you pay someone not to go to a competitor. I can see where you don't care and don't let someone go to a competitor. I don't see where you pay someone the same or even less than they would make over that 18 month period AND expect they don't go to a competitor. Of course, this guy signed it too so maybe it's equally shared.
Re:Amazon cloud sales chief sued for going Google
by jlarocco on Monday October 29, 2012 @03:22PM
(#4713980)
Non-competes don't negate a person's right to earn a livelihood. This guy could have found a job at a million other companies that aren't directly competing with Amazon on cloud services, and he wouldn't have been given any problems from Amazon.
If he didn't agree to the non-compete then he shouldn't have signed the contract.
Re:Amazon cloud sales chief sued for going Google
by pav3l on Monday October 29, 2012 @02:19PM
(#4713665)
How are those two easily distinguishable, when the major selling point of your skill set is that you worked on and designed a system whose workings are the confidential information.
Re:Amazon cloud sales chief sued for going Google
by jusben1369 on Tuesday October 30, 2012 @08:58AM
(#4717147)
Very true. Although the answer can be "both". In this case it sounds like there was some specific severance package negotiation and I suspect there was a more specific non compete put in place for the exchange of $$'s
The ability to earn a livelihood is an inalienable right, and I don't understand how it's legally enforceable to have a contractual clause that negates that right.
A clause that one does not reveal confidential information though, is another matter.
If I pay you $325k to sit on your hands for a year and you take a job requiring you to clap all day, you're in breach of contract.. the fact is that the employee is violating the terms of the severance package, not the employment contract. I think there is a meaningful distinction here.
If he didn't agree to the non-compete then he shouldn't have signed the contract.