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by joyj2nd 2197 days ago
"the Wild West that seems to be most of the US. "

You can write anything you want into a contract. Even that you are obligated to give BJs until the end of your life to your previous employer. Good luck trying to enforce this in court. A shitty non compete? I would tell my previous employer "go sue me". A friend actually had this problem and he met with his previous employer and told them: "Look, I don't care what you want, I will keep working for my new employer. If you don't like that you can pay me the same amount of money and I sit a home and do nothing." They passed.
2 comments
anonymousab 2197 days ago
> Good luck trying to enforce this in court

The enforcement is them dragging it out in court for as long as it takes to bankrupt you.

Amazon has a large vested interest in retaining these clauses and wielding them as a weapon. To the extent that only a few upper employees may have the resources to fight back long enough to avoid being destroyed.

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joyj2nd 2197 days ago
You have a point there but don't forget, suing works both ways. And while the company may assume they can sue you into bankruptcy, lawyer could assume the opposite. If they counter-sue, a big company is able to pay damages. As with most things in live, they work both ways.
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wikibob 2197 days ago
No not really. It's a mater of orders of magnitude.

If your attorney bill is one million dollars, you are probably bankrupt and destitute.

If the company loses, and they have to pay their attorney one million, and your attorney one million, and maybe a few hundred grand of lost wages for you, that's still absolutely nothing for them. Pocket change. It will not materially affect their budget.

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james-mcelwain 2197 days ago
I seriously doubt there are many lawyers willing to sue Amazon on contingency unless it's the most slam dunk of cases.
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joyj2nd 2197 days ago
Lawyers love to sue big companies. Do you know why? Payment is guaranteed if they win. And if company XYZ insists on an unreasonable non-compete without compensations, then this screams class action.

https://www.mahanyertl.com

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wikibob 2197 days ago
They have infinite dollars to pay attorneys.

Do you? Does your new employer like you enough to pay for attorneys?

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