What are my rights regarding a breach of contract?
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What are my rights regarding a breach of contract?
I had a former employee who signed an agreement stating that they would not sell a product of similar service to the one he was selling while working at my company, for at least 6 months after being terminated from our company. It turns out that right after he was terminated, he went to work for another company, and began selling the same product he was selling while working for us. I was going to let this slide, but the former employee also began divulging trade secrets to the other company, and began marketing the product to businesses that we had working relationships with. He has not stopped,despite warnings from us, and he still is marketing the products to businesses we work with. What kind of damages can I sue him for? Can I sue him for an estimated money had made the whole time while marketing the product, the money we believe he made selling in these businesses, etc.?
Asked on July 13, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, New Mexico
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
Yes, if he violated a post-employment agreement, such as a non-compete, non-solicitation, etc. agreement, you can sue him for breach of contract: typically, you would sue for either the profit made by him or his employer due to the breach (though you can only sue him: his new employer was not a party to or bound by the agreement) or the losses yiu can show you otherwise incurred. You can also sue him for misappropriation of trade secrets or proprietary business information, if you can show that he divulged confidential (i.e. not generally or publically known) information which he only had by dint of his employment and only for purposes of his work for you.
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