Comments on: Apple removes Papermaster bio from Web site

It seems Apple has responded to the court wrangling over former IBM executive Mark Papermaster, who accepted a job running Apple's iPhone group last month.

[setgo]

That right there is what you call crabology. The other crabs see the one crawling out and they pull his a.. uhh.. behind back in.

[machelpdesk]

So the big question with Mark Papermaster is whether the non-compete clause in his IBM contract is enforceable. A few months ago the California State Supreme Court ruled non-competes unenforceable in California.

UPDATE: Here?s the conclusion from the ruling in Application Group, Inc. v. Hunter Group, Inc., 61 Cal.App.4th 881 (1998), a California non-compete clause case:

"We further conclude, in agreement with the trial court, that California law may be applied to determine the enforceability of a covenant not to compete, in an employment agreement between an employee who is not a resident of California and an employer whose business is based outside of California, when a California-based employer seeks to recruit or hire the nonresident for employment in California."

[kksing]

Too bad IBM is not contesting this in California.

The case is filed in New York & Papermaster's lawyers are not contesting the venue (at this time).

[mbenedict]

Two years ago unfortunately I found myself in the middle of a non-compete battle. A former employer (a very large enterprise) asked me to return and help wind-down a project. I wanted to leave my then-current job anyway, but had a 1-year non-compete clause.

In my industry (financial), there are certain niche tasks that certain people (like me) do. Basically it's a small world, we move from one company to another, and bump into the same set of people over and over again. So normally moving between competitors is not a problem; it happens all the time. Industry players "like to help each other" since its their best interest to do so.

But in this case, my then-current employer refused to sign a waiver. The company's Sr. Partner also threatened to sue both myself and the other company should I make the move anyway.

What incensed me was that this entire episode had nothing to do with "competition". Some ego was bruised that I was moving back to that particular company, and the Sr. Partner had some delusion that he could force me to stay by using the non-compete clause. It was a total abuse of the system.

Well I handed in my resignation. I didn't care if I couldn't return to my former employer, but I sure as hell wasn't staying. I felt like a pawn between the two companies. The battle didn't hurt either company, but cost me my job. And there was no way I could contest this in court by myself.

Soon thereafter, some discussions happened between the two companies, and I was "allowed" to make the move. I was never told what they agreed to. The company I returned to either paid some compensation, or threatened to cease business with the Sr. Partner, or both.