Walk It Through: The Noncompete Letter

A kitchen manager's noncompete, a layoff without severance, and a letter threatening to enforce it.

A restaurant's kitchen manager signed a covenant not to compete when hired, and is offered a job at a place across town.

Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.

One kitchen manager and one clause. Non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements, trade secrets and the sale of a business are not worked through here.

A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.

Words this turns on

Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.

Covenant not to competeA clause restricting work elsewhere, which no employer may enter into, enforce or threaten to enforce with a low-wage employee, including anyone entitled to overtime pay, or with a health care professional.