Non-compete cases are allot like marriage. No really. Hear me out on this one.
Lets make the following associations:
SMALL LIE = CONTRACT BREACH
WIFE’S SADNESS = Employer’s ANGER
WIFE’S ANGER = MAJOR HARM to EMPLOYER
At the end of the day, it not only matters what you did, but whether your actions caused harm and damages… and, how much harm and damage you cause by your actions matter allot, especially to a judge, jury, ex-employer or wife.
For example.
EXAMPLE 1
Your wife, on a good day, asks you which dress, “the red one or the blue one that makes her legs look big?” You lie and say “Red one… by the way, the blue one makes you look lovely too.”
Now. There is no damage in that statement. It is a lie, a breach, but your wife is happy. You have caused no damage and likely, the comment, the breach will not evoke further consequences.
EXAMPLE 2
Your wife, asks you which dress, “the red one or the blue one that makes her legs look big?” You say “Red one… the blue one is just too short.”
Now. There could be damage in that answer. Maybe, you just hurt her a little bit. It wasn’t a lie and therefore not a breach, but it did cause her a minute of harm.
You say something nice a minute later, all is forgiven and no consequences.
EXAMPLE 3
Your wife, asks you which dress, “the red one or the blue one that makes her legs look big?”
You say “definitely not the blue one. It does make your legs look big”
Now, you haven’t lied, or breached but the damages are huge. She is angry at you and now doesn’t want to go out at all. She feels unloved, mad and you are to blame. For everything.
This is exactly how employers act. Sometimes they let a breach slide by. Sometimes, they are so hurt (even irrationally so) by something an ex-employer did, they blow up. They run to Court. They scream and yell and demand justice. And if they can prove actual harm, loss of business, etc., their rage will be justified by the law and their righteous anger fueled.
So. Here is the moral of the story.
Be smart.
Be thoughtful. Do what you can to minimize the damage and try not to hurt anyone. Your wife, your ex-employer, etc. If you don’t take my advice, you may need more than one attorney in your future.