After last night’s game, I ran across an article discussing college coaches and non-compete agreements. It is excellent. Read it. Enjoy it. Attorney Michael Elkon of Fisher & Phillips, a national labor and employment law firm, explains why college football coaches can pick up and move, while the average person (salesman, engineer, doctor, etc. ) is not permitted to work where he or she wants because of a non-compete clause.
We read about Starbucks suing Dunkin Donuts because an executive made the switch, allegedly taking trade secret information. But don’t you think Nick Saban knows a few things about LSU? Think maybe just maybe he is sharing that info with his now national championship team? Isn’t college football more important – and profitable – than coffee?
Here is the long and short of it. We in the United States LOVE our celebrities and hold them to lower standards. Business owners believe restrictive covenants are vital for business success, and they will spend money to enforce them against even low-level employees. But we don’t question it when a 20 million dollar a year state employee takes his know how to the “competitor” for 25 million a year?
Basically, I want consistency. And I want to live in a world where universities, hospitals and businesses retain employees by treating them well. Not by holding threatening contracts over their heads.
And lastly, out of respect for my father-in-law, my uncle-in-law and all of the Ellermans of Winnsboro, Louisiana, GEAUX TIGERS. I am sorry for your loss but the Gumbo sure was delish!