• I have joined my competition company but now previous employer has sent me warning letter

I have joined competition company but now previous employer sent me warning letter that I am using old company data for new company. However market is same and competition will remain same with same resources. Also they warned me not to hire their employees to new company. As few have left already to this company and they are blaming me for this.
During offer letter i signed all clauses. That i cant join compitetor till one year. And will not share any data. 
Could you pl suggest what to do and whether i should inform about this letter to current employer? 
Previous employer has asked me to written reply saying that he will not use any kind of resources of their company further. Also they said they may take action against current employer too.
Pl suggest
Asked 4 years ago in Labour

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10 Answers

All such employment  terms are illegal and void in law. 

You can not share any trade secret of your previous company with new one up-to a reasonable period of time say around 2/3 years. That's all you need to follow. 

 

Kallol Majumdar
Advocate, Kolkata
2837 Answers
14 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Inform your current employer about letter received by you 

 

2) you must reply to letter 

 

3) in letter mention that under section 27 of contract act any agreement in restraint of trade is void 

 

4) you are at liberty to join competitor after your resignation 

 

5) that you have not divulged any confidential information about company nor poached its employees 

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94518 Answers
7485 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

They can  take action against you for using there data and for breach of agreement , for beach they can file civil suit for recovering damages and of the data is confidential they can file criminal case for same and can also implicate your current employer.

Shubham Jhajharia
Advocate, Ahmedabad
25514 Answers
179 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Sir, 

As I am a panel advocate for several companies of this sort, this is a common practice that the companies do to protect their Intellectual Property and other rights in order to provide a safeguard in the competitive world.

When you sign a contract with a company, they bound you to certain terms, including the one you are indulged in. 

Although, the question is, what kind of company have your worked for and what kind of company you have joined. 

as if they are direct competitors, then the previous employers would be tentative about you sharing their system info and other procedural way of work. Any use of their research data or IP data would amount to an IP theft. I would suggest you to share a little more information to enable us to help you better. 

 

Otherwise, all I can advise is to refrain using their data in any shape or form and sharing their information with your new employers. 

 

In order to share more information, allow us to contact you via EMAIL.

Abhishek Sharma
Advocate, Chandigarh
128 Answers
2 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Non solicitation agreement not valid. Don`t disclose previous company secrets to new company, rest no legal can be initiate agasint you.

Yogendra Singh Rajawat
Advocate, Jaipur
22593 Answers
31 Consultations

4.4 on 5.0

If you had signed that you would not join the competitor company till 1 year elapsed then you are in breach of contract. He can sue you on that.

Regards 

Rahul Mishra
Advocate, Lucknow
14081 Answers
65 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Yes if you have signed the same they can take action against you. You need to inform your employer

Prashant Nayak
Advocate, Mumbai
31802 Answers
175 Consultations

4.1 on 5.0

This term in the contract is not binding on you as the same has no effect in the eyes of law i.e it is void. You can work in the competitor's firm after leaving the company and you cannot be restrained from doing so as that would amount to an agreement in restrain of lawful profession. 

Mohammed Mujeeb
Advocate, Hyderabad
19299 Answers
32 Consultations

4.7 on 5.0

- Since, you had accepted the offer letter after signing the same , hence as per law, you are bound by the contents/clauses of the said offer letter as well.

- If, you have left the company before one year , and  joining the competiter company , then the last company can file its complaint against you.

- However , this type of contract with the employee is not lega as per section 27 of contract Act.

- Futher ,sharing of others data also not permissible.

- You should reply the said notice , after submitting that you are not sharing data or disturrbing their employees, and further you are bound with the new company and its progress as well. 

- But mere joining a competitor company is not prohibited as per law. You are legally free to join any company as per your wish.

Mohammed Shahzad
Advocate, Delhi
13092 Answers
195 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act-1872 provides that ”Every agreement by which anyone is restrained from exercising a lawful profession or trade or business of any kind, is to that extent void”.

Indian law is therefore very clear and strict on this point, any such non compete agreement shall not be binding on the parties and the same shall be null and void. By using the term void ab initio, for such type of agreements it has shown that it has kept such non compete clause in the agreements beyond consideration. Indian courts have also consistently refused to enforce post termination non compete clauses in employment contracts as “restraint of trade” is impermissible under section 27 of the Indian Contract Act-1872, and have held them as void and against the public policy because of their potential to deprive an individual of his or her fundamental right to earn a living.

 

Hence any action taken by your previous employer in this regard shall not be maintainable in law, therefore you can issue a reply to his letter denying his allegations but do not commit anything.

 

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84711 Answers
2172 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

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