I once applied for a job at the subdivision of a large electronics company's responsible for building the cabinets and cases for their various electronic products. They gave me a fifteen page contract to read and then sign in forty plus places indicating that I had read and understood each part of the agreement.
I don't remember the agreement signature numbers or the exact legalize, but I do know they were buried deep possibly it was in the high thirties for the signature number. These set of agreements as stated I initially interpreted to mean that I as an Engineer "agreed" to sign over all rights to anything and everything I developed while working for them or that I developed AFTER working for their company that was related in any way to electronic cabinets or cases. This specifically included any enhancements or improvements to the design, production and/or distribution of said products. Another part specifically stated what I thought was an agreement that forbid me from working for any competitor electronic case company for the next 50 years.
Their company's trade secrets, patents and copyrights was something I'd be willing to agree to protect and I could even see not working for a competitor for 3 to 5 years, but the idea that after working for them I would be forbidden for the rest of my life from working for any other company that made electronic cases was completely outlandish and worse yet was the statement that I was to sign over, for the next 50 years the rights to any work, improvements or patents I developed that was related to electronic cases in any way.
Just to make sure I understood what I was reading I asked the recruiter about those sets of contract agreements and he sent me to the legal department where someone quickly explained again what the marked sections said and it was WORSE than I thought.
The agreement wasn't just for the case/cabinet subdivision of the company it was the entire company.
Given the scope of the main company's products at the time I would have been signing away my right to actually use my EE degree for the rest of my life and most of the rights to my minor in ME even a significant part of my Major in programming.
Don't get me wrong they were all very nice both the recruiter and legal departments, but the legal department said that they felt since they were taking a big chance on hiring an engineer just starting out and they needed extra protection because I would be learning a lot from my first engineering job and that knowledge was theirs and they were taking steps to protect that as much as possible.
What was really more telling than the 15 to 20 minute very clear explanation was the statement by the legal interns made at the end just before they sent me back to the recruiters office. "Just sign it and ignore that part, we know it's restrictive, impossible to enforce or follow and besides it won't stand up in any county, state or federal court of law."
Even if the company wasn't trying to take advantage of trainee engineers and it was some type of employee test, that wasn't what was bothering me.
I wasn't worried about the law or even them threatening to take me to court, I was worried about the fact I was being asked to give my word knowing there was no way I would or could keep my word with the contract as it was written.
I was hoping it was a test, but needless to say I refused to sign those sets of agreements and instead blacked them out and put a note in the margins pointing to the blank back of the 15th page where I had carefully wrote out what I would agree to do for the rest of my life as related to that company's procedures, products, trade secrets, patients and copyrights.
I didn't get the job, but I kept an eye on the local electronic cabinet/case subdivision, which lasted 4 years before being out sourced to first Mexico then I think later to China and then I watched the greater company until it was effectively dead roughly ten years after that with a few surviving fully independent subdivisions scattered around the country and a trade name maintained by a set of lawyers on retainer that stick it on various products that they do not in any way make.
I had hoped the impossible contract was some sort of embedded test, but after talking to their legal department and then getting no reply back not even a form letter I have to conclude it wasn't a test, the company was effectively following a policy where they selected for employees that weren't the sort of people that I would want to trust with trade secrets.
Later I talked to several other trainee engineers that I knew had applied to the company and was shocked at the number who had or went ahead and signed the contract as it was written, when I asked how they could do that they had shrugged and said "That it had to be illegal and the company couldn't make such a restrictive contract stick."
If I'm remembering correctly I knew of another student Engineer or computer tech that I knew had signed the contract as it stood and was later contacted and I think actually went to the next stages of gaining a job.
Any way I can think to look at it that contract, it was a contradiction of it's stated purpose, anyone who would sign it unchanged wasn't someone I'd trust to actually keep the spirit or letter of any contract they had signed.
hmelton
God Bless
I don't remember the agreement signature numbers or the exact legalize, but I do know they were buried deep possibly it was in the high thirties for the signature number. These set of agreements as stated I initially interpreted to mean that I as an Engineer "agreed" to sign over all rights to anything and everything I developed while working for them or that I developed AFTER working for their company that was related in any way to electronic cabinets or cases. This specifically included any enhancements or improvements to the design, production and/or distribution of said products. Another part specifically stated what I thought was an agreement that forbid me from working for any competitor electronic case company for the next 50 years.
Their company's trade secrets, patents and copyrights was something I'd be willing to agree to protect and I could even see not working for a competitor for 3 to 5 years, but the idea that after working for them I would be forbidden for the rest of my life from working for any other company that made electronic cases was completely outlandish and worse yet was the statement that I was to sign over, for the next 50 years the rights to any work, improvements or patents I developed that was related to electronic cases in any way.
Just to make sure I understood what I was reading I asked the recruiter about those sets of contract agreements and he sent me to the legal department where someone quickly explained again what the marked sections said and it was WORSE than I thought.
The agreement wasn't just for the case/cabinet subdivision of the company it was the entire company.
Given the scope of the main company's products at the time I would have been signing away my right to actually use my EE degree for the rest of my life and most of the rights to my minor in ME even a significant part of my Major in programming.
Don't get me wrong they were all very nice both the recruiter and legal departments, but the legal department said that they felt since they were taking a big chance on hiring an engineer just starting out and they needed extra protection because I would be learning a lot from my first engineering job and that knowledge was theirs and they were taking steps to protect that as much as possible.
What was really more telling than the 15 to 20 minute very clear explanation was the statement by the legal interns made at the end just before they sent me back to the recruiters office. "Just sign it and ignore that part, we know it's restrictive, impossible to enforce or follow and besides it won't stand up in any county, state or federal court of law."
Even if the company wasn't trying to take advantage of trainee engineers and it was some type of employee test, that wasn't what was bothering me.
I wasn't worried about the law or even them threatening to take me to court, I was worried about the fact I was being asked to give my word knowing there was no way I would or could keep my word with the contract as it was written.
I was hoping it was a test, but needless to say I refused to sign those sets of agreements and instead blacked them out and put a note in the margins pointing to the blank back of the 15th page where I had carefully wrote out what I would agree to do for the rest of my life as related to that company's procedures, products, trade secrets, patients and copyrights.
I didn't get the job, but I kept an eye on the local electronic cabinet/case subdivision, which lasted 4 years before being out sourced to first Mexico then I think later to China and then I watched the greater company until it was effectively dead roughly ten years after that with a few surviving fully independent subdivisions scattered around the country and a trade name maintained by a set of lawyers on retainer that stick it on various products that they do not in any way make.
I had hoped the impossible contract was some sort of embedded test, but after talking to their legal department and then getting no reply back not even a form letter I have to conclude it wasn't a test, the company was effectively following a policy where they selected for employees that weren't the sort of people that I would want to trust with trade secrets.
Later I talked to several other trainee engineers that I knew had applied to the company and was shocked at the number who had or went ahead and signed the contract as it was written, when I asked how they could do that they had shrugged and said "That it had to be illegal and the company couldn't make such a restrictive contract stick."
If I'm remembering correctly I knew of another student Engineer or computer tech that I knew had signed the contract as it stood and was later contacted and I think actually went to the next stages of gaining a job.
Any way I can think to look at it that contract, it was a contradiction of it's stated purpose, anyone who would sign it unchanged wasn't someone I'd trust to actually keep the spirit or letter of any contract they had signed.
hmelton
God Bless