[whalesalad]

Not really a fair comparison. While Woz was at HP, he wasn't the executive/leader of their personal computing division.

I don't see how anyone can fault Apple here when the person doing this was leading their entire chip division.

Scenario: I own car washes and hire someone to run and manage one of my locations. I pay them well and put them at the helm of the entire location. This person is able to completely learn the ins and outs of my business and in the meantime is slowly working on poaching other members of my staff and getting things lined up to open a competitive car wash.

Who's side are you on?

[musicale]

> Whose side are you on?

I'm on the side of allowing all employees, including executives and rank and file employees, to quit and work for a competitor without being sued. This is how a competitive labor market is supposed to work.

[briandear]

> quit and work for a competitor without being sued

"Quit" is the operative work here. The employee in question was building the competitor using Apple resources. He didn't quit and work for a competitor. He worked for a competitor and then quit.

[ksec]

>This is how a competitive labor market is supposed to work.

I wish it was that easy, it will work for small companies Until you run into economy of scale where your previous company has advantage over your own.

[peterkelly]

> While Woz was at HP, he wasn't the executive/leader of their personal computing division

Why does position even matter? Ultimately in this industry it's talent and skill that prevail. Woz was at least as capable, if not more, than anyone else working in a technical capacity at HP at the time. He arguably had better business sense than anyone at the company too because they had the opportunity to start the personal computer revolution but passed on it.

[Supermancho]

Not sure why the position is relevant, nor do I think Jobs's precedent was relevant.

"a duty of loyalty to the company" - wholly made up. The company has no loyalty to you.

"breached an intellectual property agreement" - this is the meat of the case. The rest is theater, including the subject.

You have skill and talent and you are paid to do a series of tasks. You can capitalize those talents in many ways to make money, working for a company is an option.

If you don't treat your employees well enough, they might leave and might even compete with you. We have laws to enforce this relationship at almost every possible turn. It's REALLY hard to get away with sabotage or inside information without quitting. Having your own LLC is great for a number of personal finance reasons.

[whalesalad]

This has nothing to do with loyalty. I agree that there is nothing wrong with this person going off to do their own thing. But getting that started on company time, including poaching other Apple employees, is totally out of line.

[strbean]

> But getting that started on company time, including poaching other Apple employees, is totally out of line.

This is easily resolved. He was simply on break every second he spent planning and recruiting for his startup.

[epicgiga]

Out of who's line? His and those employees line? They're temporary servants, not property.

[Aloha]

I also offered his work to HP - who turned it down.