Does this "Covenant Not to Compete" mean the employer can ONLY sue former employee for $1,000?? (work, companies)

[StaggerLee22]

Here is part of the exact document a friend signed. I removed the name of the company for obvious reasons.


"Upon breach or threatened breach of this Covenant Not To Compete, COMPANY XYZ shall have the right to seek injunctive relief from a court of competent jurisdiction, and shall not be required to post a bond in excess of $1,000.00. The party in breach will be liable for all court costs and attorneys fees incurred in the enforcement of this Covenant Not to Compete"
Does that mean my friend can ONLY be sued for a total of one thousand dollars? He had a low level ENTRY position in this service company. He worked there for less than a year and had nothing to do with 'company secrets"

[Nell Plotts]

In most states that is unenforceable.

[Rabrrita]

What it means is if they take the person to court to enforce the non-compete (note the company is telling you upfront they will take this to court if necessary) you can not demand they post a bond above $1,000 to cover any cost should they not prevail in their suit. A judge can order a bond over the limit if they want but but most likely if you are asking for it, the court would defer to the agreed upon limit. That's telling you that if you win you may be force to sue them for your cost as their bond is limited to $1,000. Unless there is similar language for your limits, the company can ask the court to order you to post a bond for whatever amount they request and a Judge can decide to do so or set their own amount.

The above has nothing to do with if the non-compete is enforceable or not, it just explains what those words probably mean.

[MSchemist80]

The noncompete is unenforceable in most states. A noncompete is generally worthless unless there is a reasonable interest that the company has that the noncompete is necessary to protect (clients, secrets etc), the noncompete is as narrow as possible to protect their above interests and minimize the restrictions to the worker earning a living, and finally that compensation is offered to the worker in exchange for them agreeing to it.

The typical noncompete which is pretty much an expression that companies hate capitalism when it means the worker is free to quit and go work for their competitor is tossed out over and over by courts and laws as it should be. Some companies really do want slaves.