Is non-compete clause legal

I worked at a military base as a physician through two successive contractors in the same clinic the past 6 1/2 years. The civilian contractor cancelled the contract because they were having trouble filling shifts. They gave us 2 weeks notice. They sent all the physicians letters saying that our non-compete clauses mean we can't work there any more- for the next 2 years. Our contracts do have 3 paragraphs about that, but I thought it just meant we couldn't bid against them in future contracts, not that we couldn't work there after they were gone. Is this clause legal. The contract says I have proprietary knowledge, but I actually have none.

1 answer  |  asked Mar 15, 2001 8:29 PM [EST]  |  applies to

Answers (1)

Richard J. Vaznaugh
Restrictive covenants are unenforceable u

At California law such restrictive covenants are explicitly unenforceable. In spite of that, sometimes they are enforced by the courts. Generally, the more limited the geographical and temporal scope of the restriction the better chance it has of being upheld -- two years sounds like a lot, though.

posted by Richard J. Vaznaugh  |  Dec 5, 2000 08:20 AM [EST]

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