How Do I Get Out Of My Noncompete Agreement?
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has recently announced that he supports efforts to make noncompete agreements unenforceable in Massachusetts. Patrick's Secretary of Housing and Economic Development, Gregory Bialecki, said this about noncompete agreements:
Non-competes stifle movement and inhibit competition and we do not want that. The evidence is clear-we are not seeing the kind of spin-offs and start-ups at the same rate that previously made Massachusetts an enviable model. Individual career growth is good for the Commonwealth: We encourage our talent to be creative, to be innovative, and to network with other talented people. Furthermore, we encourage employers to recruit talented people. However, we send a mixed message: providing the talent needed to support the kind of explosive growth we want in the innovation economy is considerably more difficult if employees are legally unable to move between jobs in the innovation economy.
