Non Disclosure agreement and Non Compete Clause in the offer letter.

Hi Everyone,

I was working in a company where I signed a mutual NDA when I was a student in college before joining that company. In the NDA, it was mentioned that the agreement would be valid for 3 years. I resigned from that company in October last year and had to serve a notice period of 2 months before joining the new company last month. The new company is a competitor in only one field, unlike the previous company which worked in multiple fields.

Since I was inexperienced with resigning, I truthfully informed the management about the new opportunity and my intention to resign. However, after my resignation, the management team pressured and harassed me not to join the new company. They even presented me with a new non-compete bond to sign, threatening that my relieving process would not proceed smoothly if I refused. Despite their coercion, I stood my ground and did not sign the new bond, openly stating my decision to join the new company. They even contacted the new company, warning them not to hire me.

After serving the 2-month notice period, I joined the new company, the same one I had informed the previous company about. Now, they are threatening to file a case against me, claiming that I breached the NDA I signed before joining and joining a competitor company after being warned.

My queries are:

1. Do I need to worry about this situation now?
2. How should I handle this challenging situation?
3. Is the NDA void in India (in the court)?

I would greatly appreciate any suggestions you can offer.

Thanks in advance!

Dear Member,

You don't have to worry. Check my following post on the ruling by the Delhi High Court:

https://www.citehr.com/571397-delhi-...n-compete.html

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Dear Dinesh Sir,

First of all, thank you very much for reading my message and replying to it. Means a lot!

Thanks a lot, Sir.

So, I do not have to worry about the NDA also?

Thanks

As Dinesh-ji has said, read the judgment. A Non-Compete Agreement (which is different from NDA) is valid only under some very strict conditions, which don't apply to you. In all other cases, a Non-Compete that prevents you from joining another company is a violation of Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act.

NDA says you should not disclose confidential information of the previous company. As long as you are not stealing and using their confidential information like customer list, you are not at fault. The data carried over from the previous company does not apply in cases where the information is already in the public domain or can be found through a Google search (to give a simplistic view).

In fact, I know of a few cases where the candidate has sent a cease and desist notice to the previous employer threatening to sue them for harassment if they don't stop trying to spoil the career by making baseless allegations. In those cases, it was supported by the employer, and their lawyers issued the notice for the candidate. I don't know if you have such an option. But you can cross the bridge when it comes to it.

I suggest you speak to your new company's HR and your senior manager and keep them updated.