I signed a non compete clause for employees I was switched to a 1099 is it still valid?
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I signed a non compete clause for employees I was switched to a 1099 is it still valid?
My employer switched me to a 1099 after
7 years on a w2. I refused after a
month and a half of trying to do my own
taxes and finding it difficult. Well
now he had his lawyer after me saying
I’m soliciting clients because my non
compete is good for over year after
termination as an employee. Yet I was
never terminated I was switched to a
1099. A self employed contractor is
aloud to solicit their own clientele…
My question is, is the non compete
still valid.
Asked on February 25, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Delaware
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
You are incorrect: a self-employed contract can solicit his/her own clientele *if* he/she is not subject to a non-compete or non-solicitation agreement; if he or she signed such an agreement, he or she is bound to its terms. The change in how you were paid, on a W-2 basis to a 1099 basis, did not absolve you of our obligations under the non-compete, since according to what you write, you were still being paid and employed by the same employer, just under a different structure. The courts, in enforcing agreements, look past technicalities to the reality of the situation, and the realty evidently is that you were still employed by--still doing work for and being paid by--this employer. d on what you write, you were still subject to the agreement, which will be in effect for a year after you voluntarily cease working for this employer.
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