Brief Introduction to the Case
Company B is mainly engaged in automobile manufacturing, software research and development, AI, and big data technology. Mr. A joined Company B in September 2022, engaged in automobile research and development, and the contract period is from September 2022 to April 2025. Meanwhile, both parties have agreed on A competition restriction clause in the contract, requiring Mr. A to not join the company or position that has competitive business with the applicant within one year after leaving office. In February 2024, Mr. A resigned from Company B and later joined Company C, which is building intelligent network demonstration zone for the government. Company C mainly provides integrated cloud control platform for government customers. Company B believes that Mr. A's behavior violates the competition restriction and infringes its legitimate rights and interests, so it initiated arbitration, requiring Mr. A to continue to perform the competition restriction obligation until February 2025, return the competition restriction compensation that Company B has paid 136,000 yuan, and pay liquidated damages to Company B and compensate Company B for a total loss of 600,000 yuan, totaling more than 736,000 yuan.
prior intervention by lawyer
Mr. A believes that the work he engaged in after leaving the company is different from the work he engaged in in Company B, and the two do not constitute a competitive relationship, and there is no violation of competition restrictions. After several unsuccessful communications with Company B, Mr. A came to Beijing Rude Law Firm for help.
Zhou Dongxue, a lawyer, has profound legal theory and rich experience in litigation and non-litigation practice. Since his practice, he has been focusing on the consulting and dispute resolution business related to corporate business, contract disputes, tort disputes, marriage and family disputes, and labor disputes, and served as the legal counsel of many companies, accumulating relatively rich experience in legal services in this field, and providing clients with comprehensive and high-quality legal services.
He has hosted many difficult and complex company, contract, marriage and family and labor dispute cases to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of clients.
Outcome of case
After receiving the case, lawyer Zhou Dongxue made A comprehensive and detailed analysis of the case between Mr. A and Company B, carefully compared the work contents before and after Mr. A left company B, and believed that Mr. A's work field after leaving Company B was different from that of Company B, and Mr. A took reasonable measures to avoid conflict of interest with Company B. Lawyer Zhou Dongxue was fully prepared for the trial after taking evidence actively. In the mediation presided over by the labor Dispute Arbitration Committee of Chaoyang District, Beijing, lawyer Zhou Dongxue argued and finally reached A settlement between Mr. A and Company B. Mr. A did not need to continue to perform the obligation of non-competition, and both parties settled all disputes in a package. Rude Law Firm successfully helped Mr. A reduce his loss by more than 300,000 yuan.
Lawyer's reminder
Competition restriction means that in order to protect its own business secrets and competitive advantages, the employer and the employee agree that within a certain period of time after leaving the job, the employee cannot work in the unit that has a competitive relationship with the original unit, or engage in the business that has a competitive relationship with the original unit. For workers, before signing a competition restriction agreement, it is necessary to see clearly the terms, such as the scope of the restriction, the region, and the standard of economic compensation. If you feel that some terms are unreasonable, you should communicate and negotiate with the employer in a timely manner. For the employer, the establishment of the competition restriction agreement must be reasonable and legal, and cannot expand the scope of restriction or extend the period of restriction at will. At the same time, it is necessary to fulfill the obligation to pay economic compensation on time, otherwise it may face the risk of the worker's lifting the competition restriction agreement. Whether workers or employers, once there is a dispute on the issue of competition restrictions, the situation is often very complicated. Therefore, when encountering relevant problems, it is a very wise choice to consult professional lawyers in a timely manner, and lawyers can provide accurate legal advice according to the specific situation to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the parties.