Quest Non-Compete

[anonymous]

Anyone have experience with how far Quest will go to enforce a non-compete?? Receiving a cease & desist letter is one thing.....but anyone have experience or know anyone where it has gone further than that??

 

[anonymous]

Anyone have experience with how far Quest will go to enforce a non-compete?? Receiving a cease & desist letter is one thing.....but anyone have experience or know anyone where it has gone further than that??

its really pretty cut and dry. Don't go into your old accounts. Sell something else. Not sure why everyone gets hung up on non competes.

 

[anonymous]

They are selective about cases they wil fight. Sometimes they will make some noise and posture and then walk away. Each case can be different and state laws may come into play. Sometimes they are happy to see some people jump ship.

 

[Former Quest Rep]

If they hear that you are going into your former Quest clients offices - Quest legal will immediately send a Cease and Desist letter directly to the legal/compliance department of your current employer. If you are violating your Non-Compete on behalf of your current employer and they are knowledgeable about it then they are also subject to legal action.

Some will say that non-competes don't stand up in most states, they can't be enforced, etc. but the truth is that most employers do not want to get tangled up with it and risk the legal expense and distraction of having their Officers and Managers go through depositions. The cost to a company to defend a breach of a non-compete agreement can be very expensive.

The way I always looked at was the relationships and knowledge I had with the clients of my former employer (even if I 100% developed those relationships) were developed on behalf of my former employer while on their payroll. In other words, those relationships belong to the former employer.

I have worked for 3 different labs now and each time I made a change I honored my non-compete and stayed out of those accounts in my area for a year. Completely stayed out of them. And I've been very successful.

If the only sales you can close are to people you got to know while working for Quest then you're not much of a salesperson. At least that is how I always looked at it.

Good Luck.

 

[anonymous]

Name one instance where it has been successfully enforced.

 

[anonymous]

If they hear that you are going into your former Quest clients offices - Quest legal will immediately send a Cease and Desist letter directly to the legal/compliance department of your current employer. If you are violating your Non-Compete on behalf of your current employer and they are knowledgeable about it then they are also subject to legal action.

Some will say that non-competes don't stand up in most states, they can't be enforced, etc. but the truth is that most employers do not want to get tangled up with it and risk the legal expense and distraction of having their Officers and Managers go through depositions. The cost to a company to defend a breach of a non-compete agreement can be very expensive.

The way I always looked at was the relationships and knowledge I had with the clients of my former employer (even if I 100% developed those relationships) were developed on behalf of my former employer while on their payroll. In other words, those relationships belong to the former employer.

I have worked for 3 different labs now and each time I made a change I honored my non-compete and stayed out of those accounts in my area for a year. Completely stayed out of them. And I've been very successful.

If the only sales you can close are to people you got to know while working for Quest then you're not much of a salesperson. At least that is how I always looked at it.

Good Luck.

 

[anonymous]

Name one instance where it has been successfully enforced.

I can name multiple instances where Quest has sent C&D letters to the employers of their former reps and those reps have been ordered by their new employer to stay out of their former clients' offices. I know of one instance where a former Quest rep went to work for a lab that was desperate for sales and didn't care if the rep was at risk and that rep ended up with significant legal expenses defending themselves. I'm not putting their name on here but it occurred in Tennessee.

The thing that is always surprising to me is that people sign non-competes but then don't have the integrity to stand by their word. You knew what you were signing when you put pen to paper - so just live up to your word. A decent salesperson can make good money without violating a non-compete.

 

[anonymous]

I can name multiple instances where Quest has sent C&D letters to the employers of their former reps and those reps have been ordered by their new employer to stay out of their former clients' offices. I know of one instance where a former Quest rep went to work for a lab that was desperate for sales and didn't care if the rep was at risk and that rep ended up with significant legal expenses defending themselves. I'm not putting their name on here but it occurred in Tennessee.

The thing that is always surprising to me is that people sign non-competes but then don't have the integrity to stand by their word. You knew what you were signing when you put pen to paper - so just live up to your word. A decent salesperson can make good money without violating a non-compete.

 

[anonymous]

You signed it, honor it

 

[anonymous]

I can name multiple instances where Quest has sent C&D letters to the employers of their former reps and those reps have been ordered by their new employer to stay out of their former clients' offices. I know of one instance where a former Quest rep went to work for a lab that was desperate for sales and didn't care if the rep was at risk and that rep ended up with significant legal expenses defending themselves. I'm not putting their name on here but it occurred in Tennessee.

The thing that is always surprising to me is that people sign non-competes but then don't have the integrity to stand by their word. You knew what you were signing when you put pen to paper - so just live up to your word. A decent salesperson can make good money without violating a non-compete.

Your points about personal integrity and having the skills to develop business with new clients are well taken. However believe you are off in your view of how robustly the company will fight these cases and their chances of winning.

 

[anonymous]

Noncompete agreements are not enforceable against employees in California. Since a California statute invalidates noncompete agreements except in very limited circumstances, California judges won't enforce a noncompete agreement against an employee. However, California employers can use nonsolicitation agreements and nondisclosure agreements to protect their trade secrets, client lists and employees when an employee leaves. (See Nolo's article on Nondisclosure Agreements for an in-depth discussion of nondisclosure agreements.)

 

[Former Quest Rep]

Your points about personal integrity and having the skills to develop business with new clients are well taken. However believe you are off in your view of how robustly the company will fight these cases and their chances of winning.

The way it has been explained to me is that Quest has their own legal team and it is relatively inexpensive for one of their paralegals to file the paperwork to tie a rep up for a year or two. Quest doesn't have to be too robust in pursuing it for it be expensive for their former rep to deal with and defend. That rep has to get a lawyer who is charging them $100/hour to respond. And the reps new employer is not going to want to deal with all that mess.

 

[anonymous]

The way it has been explained to me is that Quest has their own legal team and it is relatively inexpensive for one of their paralegals to file the paperwork to tie a rep up for a year or two. Quest doesn't have to be too robust in pursuing it for it be expensive for their former rep to deal with and defend. That rep has to get a lawyer who is charging them $100/hour to respond. And the reps new employer is not going to want to deal with all that mess.

I think you give too much credit to the places that former quest reps go to.most of these organizations do not occupy the moral high ground and bring in these reps in order to get their book of business

 

[anonymous]

Maybe, just maybe quest should focus on paying their employees competitive wages and treat them fairly instead of figuring out how to fuck them over when they leave. Non-competes are a chickenshit attempt to keep the scared people from leaving, especially as broad as some of the non-competes have been written in the past. As to the douche that had a nice dig at ppl that sign and then don't adhere to the NC....if you are coerced to sign the thing either by withholding pay or threatened PIP than are you signing of free will. Tell you what when quest becomes behaving in an ethical and upstanding manner they can then expect that in return....I won't be holding my breath.

 

[anonymous]

Let's keep it simple. If you are going to work for a competitor: (1) Don't work in the territory that you were working before you left; (2) Don't share information about your old territory with anyone at your new employer; (3) Don't bring any client lists or pricing with you when you leave.

 

[anonymous]

Let's keep it simple. If you are going to work for a competitor: (1) Don't work in the territory that you were working before you left; (2) Don't share information about your old territory with anyone at your new employer; (3) Don't bring any client lists or pricing with you when you leave.

I'll keep it simple too. 1) don't force reps to sign a document that is so broad it encompasses everything quest touches making employment next to impossible...especially for specialty reps with larger territories 2) quest should spend more time figuring out "why" ppl leave and fixing that rather than forcing ppl to stay. 3) don't really think quest can stand on high ground about morals and ethics when looking at previous employees leaving to find a good work environment

 

[anonymous]

Let's keep it simple. If you are going to work for a competitor: (1) Don't work in the territory that you were working before you left; (2) Don't share information about your old territory with anyone at your new employer; (3) Don't bring any client lists or pricing with you when you leave.

I don't think that is a real world view. The problem here is even larger than just sales. Seems just about every week I hear of someone from Finance/ IT/HR/ Ops going to a competitor and taking with them a heck of a lot of institutional knowledge.

 

[anonymous]

I don't think that is a real world view. The problem here is even larger than just sales. Seems just about every week I hear of someone from Finance/ IT/HR/ Ops going to a competitor and taking with them a heck of a lot of institutional knowledge.

1). Define "institutional knowledge"...customer lists, revenue, utilization, contacts.. specifically for top accts are likely memorized and will likely still be true after a year has passed 2) if quest is so worried about employees going to competitors why not address the reason"why" so many people are leaving in the first place

 

[anonymous]

Because it will cost money.

 

[anonymous]

1). Define "institutional knowledge"...customer lists, revenue, utilization, contacts.. specifically for top accts are likely memorized and will likely still be true after a year has passed 2) if quest is so worried about employees going to competitors why not address the reason"why" so many people are leaving in the first place

The exit parade continues....just heard about a very long term and respected TBR employee taking her institutional knowledge to the competition.