Caught my former employer forging a non-compete. Now what?

[Owls]

Following the advice of my lawyer he asked me to at least take down the original post. Wish me luck guys!

 

[Schadenfroh]

Now what?

You write the cliffs...

 

[Owls]

Ahhh come on gimme a break

 

[darkxshade]

Now you are violating a forged NDA. Prepare to be sued!

 

[drebo]

No-compete clauses aren't generally enforcable, anyway. Sucks that you lost a vendor, but that's their choice to make, and they'll lose the revenue you would have provided them. I am sure there are other vendors.

 

[OutHouse]

move on, water under the bridge, dont cry over spilt milk. find new clients that are in no way associated with your former employer

what are you going to do? do you have money to sue them? prob not so forget about it and press on and build your company.

 

[Mr. Lennon]

Call the police.

 

[Owls]

Now you are violating a forged NDA. Prepare to be sued!

Woke up my wife laughing at this. Thanks

No-compete clauses aren't generally enforcable, anyway. Sucks that you lost a vendor, but that's their choice to make, and they'll lose the revenue you would have provided them. I am sure there are other vendors.

The most important fact out of this is that they have not gone after me directly which proves they have nothing anyway. But I do want them to be prosecuted especially if they are trying to ruin my business. And yes there are other vendors that will provide the same service but they are essentially harassing me and my client by doing this.

move on, water under the bridge, dont cry over spilt milk. find new clients that are in no way associated with your former employer

what are you going to do? do you have money to sue them? prob not so forget about it and press on and build your company.

Well I can sue them but it's not a prudent use of my time or money. Like I said I feel that they should be punished by the state if they were stupid enough to issue a forgery of any sort. I'm thinking I should just call up the DA's office in their county and see what they think. Maybe they will like low hanging fruit like this?

 

[JSt0rm]

chop that fucks hand off.

 

[Sonikku]

Sounds like you're getting a crash course into what goes on in running a successful business.

 

[HNNstyle]

I don't know much about your situation but I can give you some good advice on how to pick a lawyer. Make sure your lawyer is rated. The ratings for lawyers will be AV, BV, and CV with AV being the best. CV rating might sound low but it is actually an extremely good rating. Only good lawyers get rated. If a lawyer is not rated then stay away from them at all costs. Lawyers who are not rated, do not care about their reputation which means they only care about how much you are paying them to sit around and do nothing. Lawyers that are rated will strive to maintain their reputation/rating to ensure that you have the best outcome because their rating/reputation matters to them.

Edit: On a side note, calling the DA will not give you any results because the DA needs proof. Right now, it only sounds like your word against his word which really doesn't do you any good.

 

[Ancalagon44]

Go after this guy and ruin his life if you have to.

Seriously, it sounds harsh, but you know this wont be the end of it. He needs to get the message that forgery is illegal, and that you need to be honest in business. Or at least more honest than he is now. Take him to the cleaners.

 

[Howard]

Do him like Paul Christoforo.

EDIT: Wow, "Christoforo" is accepted by the spellcheck. Crazy.

 

[Patranus]

The assumption is that you didn't sign it and not realize it when you started your employment/signed your contract.

Secondly, its generally a no no to steal clients you picked up at your former employer.

Thirdly, they don't have to hand over shit to you unless you sue them. Good luck with that.

 

[Ancalagon44]

The assumption is that you didn't sign it and not realize it when you started your employment/signed your contract.

If he did sign it, he is pretty screwed obviously. But hopefully he would remember it. Also, if he did, his former employer would have no problem providing it to him.

Secondly, its generally a no no to steal clients you picked up at your former employer.

Thats why no compete clauses are required. His former employer didnt think to make him sign one, too bad. What is he supposed to do, beg for food? Businesses compete for clients, and connections are an important part of that. If his former employer didnt rip clients off, he wouldnt have a problem.

Thirdly, they don't have to hand over shit to you unless you sue them. Good luck with that.

If I had a signed no compete from a former employee, I would hand a copy to him. Maybe he forgot, or doesnt think I have it. In either case, it would show him that I'm serious about it.

 

[Owls]

Thank you for the responses so far. But just to reiterate NO I absolutely did not sign a non compete form EVER. In my exit interview I handed in my office keys and went home.

I worked for a company 10 years ago and I signed a non compete there. I know judgement and memory comes into question on the internet but there is zero doubt.

If my former employer had even a shred of evidence they would go after me directly instead of my client and vendors.

As for evidence the only thing I have is the email from the vendor but even that can be classified as third degree forgery.

Also thank you VERY much on the rating system. I had no idea there was such a thing!

 

[her209]

Maybe you'd have better luck if you took it up with the local BBB and CoC.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Depends on the reach of your business. Is it largely local and a business that is difficult to expand beyond your town? If so then it might be worth fighting.

It also depends on how much money you are making. If you were able to get on a firm footing and have good cash flow before all this started, then you might have the resources to fight it.

If you don't have the resources to fight, or if your business is not location dependent, then don't bother.

 

[Patranus]

Thats why no compete clauses are required. His former employer didnt think to make him sign one, too bad. What is he supposed to do, beg for food? Businesses compete for clients, and connections are an important part of that. If his former employer didnt rip clients off, he wouldnt have a problem.

And if he took the contacts from his former companies Rolodex?
That is what I was getting at.

 

[Patranus]

Thank you for the responses so far. But just to reiterate NO I absolutely did not sign a non compete form EVER. In my exit interview I handed in my office keys and went home.

What size of company is your former employer?

A 'do not compete' isn't usually a separate document. Much of the time it is integrated into your employment contract signed at the beginning of your employment.

 

[Owls]

Depends on the reach of your business. Is it largely local and a business that is difficult to expand beyond your town? If so then it might be worth fighting.

It also depends on how much money you are making. If you were able to get on a firm footing and have good cash flow before all this started, then you might have the resources to fight it.

If you don't have the resources to fight, or if your business is not location dependent, then don't bother.

Yup like I said I do have the time and money to sue him into oblivion but despite the situation I'm more of a live and let live type of guy. However, I'm slowly learning that the nice guy narrative doesn't exactly work in the business world. I would have much rather be left alone but on the other hand my principles get in the way that makes me feel like I should make an example out of them.

The type of business is dependant on local and regional clients so it is certainly worth standing my ground

It may come down to actually suing for damages if they fail to provide the document. If they are stupid enough to actually provide the forged document then the shock of something that stupid would take a few hours to wearing off.

 

[Owls]

What size of company is your former employer?

A 'do not compete' isn't usually a separate document. Much of the time it is integrated into your employment contract signed at the beginning of your employment.

They are a small company. Less than 10 employees. And I want to reiterate that the formerly unhappy client came to me. In this instance I did not solicit them. Nor anyone else and I have done quite well drumming up my own clients.

Also I spoke to a former employee of the company in question and his non compete form was completely seperate from his letter of employment.

 

[senseamp]

Did they use any pirated software at your old company? If so, report them to the BSA

 

[Patranus]

They are a small company. Less than 10 employees. And I want to reiterate that the formerly unhappy client came to me. In this instance I did not solicit them. Nor anyone else and I have done quite well drumming up my own clients.

Also I spoke to a former employee of the company in question and his non compete form was completely seperate from his letter of employment.

You should review your employment contract.
If the non compete isn't in there there should be a clause regarding (binding) arbitration between you and your former employer pertaining to contract disputes.

 

[HNNstyle]

Also thank you VERY much on the rating system. I had no idea there was such a thing!

I just looked up the rating system because the last time I needed a lawyer was 7 years ago. They changed the rating system a bit and took out the CV mark probably because it didn't sound so great and replaced it with numbers. You can read the link to find out more on how the rating system works.