Even when the new employer has not been sued, there are cases where they have paid the previous employer to settle the non-compete, as was the case with a CEO Nortel hired from Motorola:
"The two companies were involved in a brief legal dispute last year after Nortel announced it had chosen Motorola's former chief operating officer, Mike Zafirovski, as its next CEO. Citing non-compete agreements, Motorola sued Zafirovski in October. The dispute was settled a few days later when Nortel agreed to pay $11.5 million to end the matter.
Under the terms of that October settlement, Zafirovski and Nortel agreed not to recruit Motorola employees."
(Not trying to say this case is anything like that of a much lower-level journalist as described in the article. That seems unfair and harsh)
"The two companies were involved in a brief legal dispute last year after Nortel announced it had chosen Motorola's former chief operating officer, Mike Zafirovski, as its next CEO. Citing non-compete agreements, Motorola sued Zafirovski in October. The dispute was settled a few days later when Nortel agreed to pay $11.5 million to end the matter.
Under the terms of that October settlement, Zafirovski and Nortel agreed not to recruit Motorola employees."
(Not trying to say this case is anything like that of a much lower-level journalist as described in the article. That seems unfair and harsh)
http://www.infoworld.com/article/2674269/networking/nortel-a...