Conflict of Interest - "non-compete" , "non-competition" agreement

[John14789]

If I understand it clearly the conflict of intrest law states that if you are currently involved in an occupation of one category then you can not run your own business of that same category. Am I right?

Anyway to avoid this or get around it?

[Modee]

Well, no - well actually, can you please elaborate further? Thanks.

[John14789]

If someone's occupation is a security officer and if that person wants to open a security company than will the conflict of interest law interfere?

A family friend is a security officer(captain level) and he wants to open a security company.

[Modee]

There is no conflict of interest law, at least nothing that applies to what you refer to. However, sometimes when someone sells a company or leaves a company he is asked to execute a "non-compete" / "non-competition" agreement, which means that he will not work in or create a new company in that specific sector for a period of time.

These agreements do not always hold up in court, especially if they try to force a person to not work in a specific sector. But they are usually enforceable when it comes to keeping them from creating or becoming owners in a similar industry.

Example: Pierre sells an online auction network. The buyers require him to not create or have any ownership in any other businesses that would compete with / do the same thing as the company he sold, for a period of time. That sort of agreement would hold up.

[John14789]

So he could continue working for the security company he's working for and open up his own security company without any problems from the law?

[Modee]

There is no area of the law that has anything to do with this. Unless he signed some kind of non-competition agreement, he is free to do whatever he wants when he leaves employment.

[John14789]

You said "when he leaves employment" but my question is can he do whatever he wants while being employed there?

He can do whatever he wants unless he signed an agreement allowing him not to, correct?

[Modee]

Yes of course. By no area of the law that covers this, I mean there is no government statute that proscribes moonlighting, so to speak. But if his employment contract says he cannot do a certain thing, that may be enforceable against him.

Consider for example the classic case of Lumley v. Wagner, that most anyone who has been to law school has studied. An opera singer was hired to work at a theatre for three months, and prohibited by contract from singing anywhere else during that period. This contract was held to be valid.

502 Bad Gateway

Issue: Whether a court of equity ought to grant an injunction ordering specific performance of the defendant to sing at Her Majesty’s Theater and nowhere else?

The court cannot compel the Defendant to sing, but the court can issue an injunction barring her to abstain from the commission of an act which she has bound herself not to do.

[John14789]

Ok thanks for clearing that up my friend. He'll be very happy to hear this. Now only thing he has to do is look over his emplyment contract.

[John14789]

Well the conclusion to this whole situation is that he can't open the company since in his contract it states that while being employed with his employer he can't open the company. The employer does annual employee checks of the employees to see if they opened up anything. So no way to avoid this. In the state of FL you need to have either three years of experience or a degree in criminal justice to open up your own company and acquire the "B' Agency license. I don't believe he's going to leave the job with all the benefits he's getting there.