[Buttons840]

It seems a first step is to not tell your current employer where you're going next. If they push, just quit on the spot and cut-off communication. Maybe go a month or two without work; by then the old employer is less likely to care, you're old news by then. Be as boring and unmemorable as possible once you've decided to leave, aim so that nobody will even remember your name in 3 weeks (except for trusted friends and coworkers).

None of this is fool proof and requires savings, and I'm sorry if it seems like I'm victim blaming. As you point out, our legal system wont even reach discovery for $30,000, it's not a system of justice, it's a system of power, so do consider utilizing the power you have to keep quiet. "I'm quitting, I don't have another job lined up, but I might look around; oh yes, of course I'll follow the contract, but I'll seek my own counsel to advise me on how best to do so; goodbye". It's hard to imagine this could end up any worse than what you already experienced.

[technothrasher]

The employer was already way ahead of you. The original non-compete included a clause that you had 24 hours to inform the previous employer if you took another job at any company that could be seen as competing within a year of leaving. It's not a huge market, and they would have found out if we just didn't tell them. That would have probably gone even worse for us. Our best asset, though I guess not good enough, was that we hadn't been deceitful at all. The only other real choice we had was for my spouse to either not work for a year, or start a completely different career (giving up 30 years of experience in the field).

Thankfully now though, it's mostly all behind us. My spouse is in a new job in a company that the first employer gave the ok to, and in two more months a year has gone by, and they have no more hold over us at all.

The current employer doesn't actually know anything about the situations, as when my spouse took the job the lack of work for the previous three months was explained as, "I was unhappy at the previous job, and I took some time off and helped my aging parents get settled into a retirement home", which was all true. The new employer also wanted a non-compete signed and was a little confused why we pushed back so hard on it. They'd never seen anybody ask for changes in it. They agreed to some changes, but in the end really didn't want to make one that was compliant with state law. We settled for a written statement from their corporate council to our lawyer that said they understood it did not comply and was likely unenforceable.