Setback for IBM in bid to block Dell hire
IBM on Friday was denied an injunction that would have kept its former acquisitions chief from taking a job at Dell, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
IBM sued David Johnson out of concern that working at Dell would cause him to divulge IBM trade secrets. Johnson worked for 27 years at IBM, most recently as vice president of corporate development, responsible for overseeing mergers and acquisitions.
IBM plans to appeal U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Robinson's ruling, according to the story. In his ruling, Robinson said while "IBM will undoubtedly suffer harm absent an injunctive order" because of Johnson's inside knowledge of IBM's business, the harm wasn't "decidedly greater" than the harm to Johnson if he couldn't pursue work because of a non-compete agreement.
Johnson maintains that he didn't properly sign the most recent agreement. Though he has begun work at Dell, he's not working on mergers and acquisitions. According to a court filing, Johnson signed a statement saying he would "limit work at Dell Inc. to learning about its businesses, including its strategies, products, operations and personnel."
Erica Ogg is a CNET News reporter who covers Apple, HP, Dell, and other PC makers, as well as the consumer electronics industry. She's also one of the hosts of CNET News' Daily Podcast. In her non-work life, she's a history geek, a loyal Dodgers fan, and a mac-and-cheese connoisseur. E-mail Erica. 
- by Mergatroid Mania June 28, 2009 5:03 PM PDT
- Companies should not be able to make you sign a non-compete agreement. If a person spends a lot of time and money educating himself for a particular career, it would be pretty stupid to sign an agreement preventing him from pursuing that career if he should stop working for his present employer.
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- by reboog711 June 28, 2009 6:50 PM PDT
- Many companies ask for both.
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- by idfubar July 2, 2009 2:18 AM PDT
- If what you want is illegal it doesn't matter what is signed.
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(4 Comments)Non-compete agreements should be replaced by non-disclosure agreements.