is a non compete legal contract still binding if I signed it but the company did not sign their part?

Question

This is for the state of Connecticut. There is a part where it says accepted and agreed and the company never signed it.

Answer 1

Yes. It's binding. You only need the signature of the party that you are enforcing against - in other words - yours.

FYI, they may well have signed thier own copy, just not yours.

Answer 2

Signing a non-compete is of little use to a company, other than to "disgorge" profits you make off their trade secrets, using the principles of common law restitution (not the criminal 'restitution' form of restitution - a completely separate legal concept). However, you ought to know that anything that's anti-competitive can violate anti-trust and competition laws. Courts give a bit of grace for non-competes, which differs by jurisdiction. Usually what's enforceable is about one year of non-compete. Sometimes 18 months. Never 5 years. So, although you sign a 50 year or 500 year non-compete, it's worthless for longer than a year to 18 months, and even at that only if there's a clause in there saying something to this effect: "If any clause in this agreement is found to be illegal, void or otherwise unenforceable, such a finding does not affect the remainder of the agreement, which remains intact." If you don't see that provision in there (I can't imagine why they would be stupid enough to leave it out), negotiate with them by offering to extend the period of non-compete to 25 years, in exchange for a larger raise. If they refuse, tell them, alright, I'll even sign for life, for an extra 6 cents an hour. Then let them file their worthless excuse for a sheet of butt wipe document in some filing cabinet wasting space on someone's floor. Next, call a lawyer, and ask how you can go about siphoning out all the company's data to the 10 terrabyte drive at your apartment, without running afoul of any criminal laws. Sell the data on EBay and in countries like China and India. Pay the lawyer to handle any lawsuits for you, and retire young, Watson.

Answer 3

Even if your signature is all that's required, don't give up yet. Consult with an attorney that specializes in employment law, because there is no area of law more full of exceptions than the area of non-compete agreements. And, the exceptions vary state-to-state.

In many states, the courts have said they don't like noncompete agreements because they restrict the ability of people to make a living and they stifle competition. So, if you want to enforce such a contract, you have to show the court that the agreement is entirely reasonable and that it protects only what are called "protectable interests." If it's not reasonable, or if it tries to protect nonprotectable interests, some states will throw the whole thing out. Such an analysis is far to complex to go into here, and would be different in your state than in mine, so I think it would be well worth it to spend $500 or so for a consultation with an employment law specialist.

Answer 4

Generally, contracts are binding against anyone that signed them, even if no other party actually signed. If you think its worth your time, you could always have an attorney review the document and give an actual legal opinion.

Answer 5

They have your signiture so you're probably screwed.
Sorry