Re: Non-competes

[Ron Bello <rbello@BelloAssoc.com>]

As the lawyers among us (not me) will remind,
non-competes for on air talent are prohibited by
law in Massachusetts the last few years.

This commercial is probably vague as the laws
differ by state.


At 03:13 PM 9/18/03 -0400, rogerkirk wrote:
>Well, it seems as if Uncle Dale's non-compete (if there was one)
>isn't being rigorously enforced.
>
>Yesterday on WBZ, I heard a very soft-sell American Express "Open Network" 
>commercial.  Supposedly a vocalization of their message board. The 
>question was from a person (vocalized as a young, tentative, unsure woman) 
>asking: "We hate to train people and then have them turn around and take 
>all that knowledge with them when they leave in a few months.  Should we 
>have them sign a non-compete contract?  Are they enforceable?"
>
>The answers were three. All males.
>
>First response was a neutral-aged, authoritative voice who was very 
>positive about them.
>
>Second response was an older-sounding man who basically sounded weary.  He 
>said they "tried them and it would have cost too much to enforce them."
>
>Third response was most interesting.  It was a younger voice with a slight 
>attitude.  He basically said "yeah, they usually aren't enforceable, but 
>if an employee thinks it is, it will scare them into staying in line - and 
>that's the effect you want"
>
>Interesting - have only heard this commercial once.  And no variation on 
>it, either.