My attorney told me that noncompete clauses
Posted By: Marilyn on 2007-09-14
In Reply to: No-Compete Clause - MT In A Panic
are illegal and not enforceable because one person cannot stop another person from making a living EVEN if you sign that noncompete agreement. I went through it with both a pharmaceutical company and a transcription company trying to prevent me from working for their clients or competitors. I can see their point as an independent contractor when it comes to offering the same services and essentially stealing their clients. However, as a former employee, nobody can tell me who I will or won't work for. The second attorney is correct, and I would follow his advice.
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- No-Compete Clause - MT In A Panic
- My attorney told me that noncompete clauses - Marilyn
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Some places have no-compete clauses with
s
Non-compete clauses in contracts. Has anyone refused to sign this and still got the job? nm
nm
Caught that. Thx! Something about competition clauses at the time kept them from hiring in NY state.
s
noncompete
If they make you sign stating no work for other MT company they better pay you well and gaurantee the work. I hate it when you sign on with a company offering so many lines and you get maybe half -
Not due to noncompete clause ..
I'm just talking in terms of other MTSOs will hear that you are going around town undercutting their prices and stealing their clients. They get mighty ticked and share that info with other MTSOs and then if you apply with them, they'll say Oh, THAT person and it will not help your case any. It's not a legal thing such as the noncompete, just kinda like a social outcast, for lack of better explanation! lol
If you are happy where you are, I agree you should stay. You have to remember that most of what you hear on the Internet is exaggeration. I take about half of what I hear, cut that in half, and THAT is how much I believe. LOL It's just too tempting when you are posting anonymously to add some flavor to your life story so I just take what I hear on these boards with a grain of salt unless I personally know the poster.
There is good money in having your own accounts but there are a LOT of headaches that go along with it, too. (For example, I'm dealing with a severely delinquent client right now -- big bad headache.) I enjoy it but not everyone is cut out for the business side of running a service so you know, the grass isn't always greener. Or to take a line from one of my favorite songs, the grass is always greener where the dogs are sh*tting. (Oops, can I do that here?? lol)
Sometimes I'd just as soon go back to working for someone else, even if it meant less money. I'd give up some of the headaches in a heartbeat but I can't give up the flexibility that having my own service affords. Too spoiled now! I have two children so that's the major reason why I enjoy having my own service. I can call the shots as far as what hours I want to work as long as the work is delivered within the TAT. :)
One thing I should add, though, is that I do pay a price for the flexible hours in that I don't get days off very often, and they sure aren't paid when I do (same goes for sick days). On the contrary, I have to pay someone else to cover for me on those days. And for the record, I do my own transcription and have a couple of subs who help out only for overflow or when I get backlogged, maybe once a month or so -- or if I just need a vacation -- so I am still very much a working MT!! I have seven docs I transcribe for so I am busy, busy, busy. I'm looking into probably hiring someone on for the long haul within the next six months because my workload is increasing by the day but I will always still transcribe, too, for as long as this body will hold out.
Anyway, my point of this long post is to say that for me, having my own accounts is not just to make better money, although that is a good perk, but about the freedom to call the shots. Since I make the contract, I make my the rules and if they don't like my way of doing things, they can find another service. Since there aren't too many in my area, they'll usually negotiate something that works for us both. :D
Many have signed noncompete re:
You cant just make contact with a client of a company - if you have signed a noncompete / no contact - if they are money hungry / desperate they will sue for any contact with a client - however, if they go out of business - no competition there.
Even if you did not sign, I am sure they would find a way to tie up your life and be an annoyance.
Just remember, they are serious on the noncompete
If you sign it, take the severance $$, and then apply at an MTSO, the new folks are more than likely going to want a reference from Q. I am sure Q is on the alert for this, and some bells might go off if you get a call to verify employment from another MTSO. Personally, I'd pay for a lawyer to wrangle it out, but I would never sign a no compete unless I seriously was not going to be in the business any longer. They have let go lots of employees in the past, and only selectively do the no compete, so I would honestly be worried about messing around with that. Wish I could be more encouraging, but, something is up these days.
Most noncompete agreements...
generally only refer to current clients, although it can include within X miles - X amount of time, etc. If the terms are too broad or restrictive (read FAIR by the Courts) the agreement is not enforceable. The Courts realize you cannot OVER-restrict an individual's ability to find work.
But if you want to target the same clients you have been with - this poster is correct, it all comes down to what the noncompete agreement says.
Some states/companies have a noncompete thing going on. It took years for Diskriter to be able to
s
attorney
Honestly, i would sign, collect my severance, and get another MT job. They have NO right to tell you who you can work for and that basically you have to leave your trained profession for a year. You know the MT business you cannot leave for a year and expect to get any kind of job again.
get an attorney
Absolutely get an attorney and go to your state labor board. They can take it much further than you can. Do you have any idea who is doing this to you and why? Your employer is unbelievably short-sighted and your co-worker - I don't even know what to say about that person! Best of luck. I am so glad you have some evidence.
D is an attorney
Just as a piece of information. Of course, she'd tell you to serve on jury duty.
All these weeks/months that the MTs from MDI have not had enough have been during the preparations for this merger. D was just taking care of herself -- she traded you all in for her retirement fund. She may have always talked like everything was about family, but at the end of the day, it has always been about business. I'm not a current MT with MDI, but worked there long enough to understand her personality.
Best of luck to all of you!
Attorney D
Thank you for the reminder about D being an attorney. I had completely forgotten about that. For me, that fact explains her actions a little better...
I had my attorney look at a contract also
I was asked to sign a really outrageous one.... not for Sten-Tel. I don't want to mention the company. It's hardly ever on here and I think I was the first and only person asked to sign one. Basically making me a slave with varying pay and other horrible things.
NO, they cannot! I consulted an attorney about this.
The consensus is that no one can prevent you from earning a living. Noncompete clauses aren't worth the paper they're written on and can't be enforced. What are they going to do, taunt you about being a traitor? Tell them kiss off and talk to your attorney IF they ever find out about it.
About contacting an attorney - sm
I too would like answers because half a truth is worse than a total lie because you mislead with half the truth and do much damage. Please clarify these issues for us.
1. Why would the company go to all the trouble to pull this two-bit prank when they could just say good bye to you if they wanted to. You have been ranting to all of us on shift with you for months about how you have been mistreated and were going to sue the company and demand unemployment. You did not tell the good MTs here who are ready to take your side and defend your position that All Type has a 3 strike rule and that you have told several of us that you were written up once for failing to make production of 1200 lines a day and then spewing some pretty foul language in an email to a supervisor about them making you do OP notes and type ESLs and how that was not fair to you. It is an acute care hospital. That is what we do. Do you remember telling us about being written up for falsifying your time card? Honestly, that is pretty serious. If you were the one telling us that, i cannot even imagine what you are not telling us and what your personnel file looks like.
2. I have not seen anyone leave, voluntarily or involuntarily on our team in some time. So who are you referencing when you say a lot of people quit or were fired. No one stays at a company that is horrendous and unfair out of the kindness of their heart. Are you telling us you just felt sorry for the company and the management team you hated and stayed to help them out?
3. Evidently you believe that you are a very high caliber employee and MT. I would think you would be able to go anywhere and find a perfectly wonderful job. I know most companies are just begging for real talent. Unemployment is probably your only alternative because we both know that you are NOT capable of working in any acute care setting - and unemployment and legal sources are going to laugh you out of the offices if you tell them the truth! Even if you fail to tell them the real story, your history is well documented.
4. From all of the foul statements you have made about this company and their management for months and threatening legal ramifications if they mess with you - I wonder why you would want to be a part of a company that you have made clear to any of us who will listen how much you hate All Type and all of the management. I also wonder if you do not know that from the beginning when you started making statements to the rest of us about lawsuits - that the company most surely handed your file over to a legal team. I suspect the legal department has been involved in all of this for several months.
Good luck missy. I have worked with you for well over a year and your professional behavior and abilities leave a lot to be desired. You have been so disruptive that most of your team has blocked you from IM and we are all glad that your drama from 4-12 everyday is finally done. You should have been doing your job instead of driving us all crazy with your IMs and maybe, just maybe this company would have valued you. As it is, what goes around comes around and your cheating, backstabbing, and lies came back around to you. I salute Karma!!!
Not an attorney, but have 2 in the family ...sm
My son-in-law is a newbie lawyer who does have an interest in labor law and the like. I've had numerous conversations with him re. the MTSOs and all they're able to get by with. Regarding your post above, the difference is ASKING YOU TO and REQUIRING YOU TO.
In any job paying on production, if there's no work on your shift DUE TO NO FAULT OF THE EMPLOYER (and this does NOT include having sent your work to VR when you on a straight MT shift and you're out of work) they may REQUEST that you make it up at a later date - this must be a mutually agreeable time. But THEY CANNOT REQUIRE you to make up work at a specific time - they must pay you minimum hourly wage for your time in that case. 
Try the Attorney General's Office...
for your State. Worked for me and I was an IC. Got my last check. Good luck.
Disagree. One letter from an attorney
to their clients would change this picture...
They broke the contract first by not paying according to agreement; that's all I'd need to either contact the clients directly myself or pay $100 bucks or so to have an attorney do it for me...
Again, you aren't looking for payment by contacting the client, you are advising them in advance that you are suing their provider and that they should be prepared to turn over documents/be subpoenaed.
Or, just roll over and hope the company chooses to pay you. Whatever.
Have an attorney send them a letter with
a copy of your contract. Also, as poster below says, look for a new job.
No Texas and will be seeing my attorney tomorrow.
?
Update - saw my attorney and filed for
Two people at the unemployment office told me I have every right to claim unemployment. My attorney looked over my contract and apparently the owner didn't cover all her avenues and he found a loophole and told me to file. BTW - one of the ladies at the unemployment office told me they are seeing more and more MTs filing.
Take it to your Prosecuting Attorney's office
They will quickly act on it. She will pay or be arrested. If it is for more than $100, it is a felony charge.
The only way I got my money is by sending him a letter from my attorney.
Essentially, all I did was go to a lawyers office and have them send the guy a letter of the amount owed otherwise face legal action and the guy sent me my pay. Callstreet will tell you that they will pay these great rates and then when you do the work and in the time frame they want, when you see what you are ACTUALLY being paid is SIGNIFICANTLY lower. This is an Indian guy who uses anyone he can get his hands on and then screw them out of hard earned money. They conference calls are brutal to get turned around in an extremely short period of time and then to get screwed out of the proper pay is a slap in the face. He does the same thing to services he uses overseas, too. I've seen posts on an Indian website about this guy cheating them out of pay, too.
Also contact your state Attorney General
consumer fraud division. Contact the local TV station that has a department for such fraud and ask them to investigate. Once you go public, you will be paid. Best of luck to you.
I'm sure the attorney has time to "live on this board" like we do. nm
x
Being a small MTSO myself, the second attorney is correct sm
Honestly, here in the Northeast, the courts will not uphold any noncompete clause written in that manner, signed or not signed.
If it affects your ability to make an income and provide for yourself, it will not hold up in a court of law in the great US of A.
Report to BBB, then contact attorney general's
xx
We all need to band together!!! And we DO need to contact an attorney. This has become CRIMINAL!
This is not legal!
Hmmm but interesting....will the attorney actually be able to find out WHO is posting?
I thought this board was secure and identities were not revealed????
call attorney general and do not work until paid
that is BULL
what kind of attorney did u all hire and in which state? What if u are spread
all over the US and there are like 8 that were not paid? Do we get an attorney in the same state as the loser who did not pay us? Or what is your advice there? What did u do? How much did it end up costing u? Plz reply via email if you want.
make complaint to your state attorney general sm
google.com you particular state attorney general and read up a bit. Here in California I know I have read things in the newspaper where Jerry Brown was investigating this or that and taking action, scams was one thing. Type up the problem encountered, find the website and send an email with all the facts (complete) so that enables a proper investigation. If nobody complains, they get away with it. They depend on people not knowing what to do, or feel, what is the use.
Here is a link for my state, can click the titles, they open
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=california+state+attorney+general+consumer+fraud&rlz=1R2GGLJ_enUS333&aq=3&oq=california+state+attorney+g&aqi=g6.
Contact the Labor Board, the Attorney General's office,
send them a certified letter with return receipt giving them 10 days from date of the letter to issue you your money. Be sure and keep documentation of everything.
contact the attorney general in the state she is in and the better business bureau and
call the local newspaper and something like ABC on your side. Put the heavy duty pressure on her.
I don't hesitate to ask. Have been told "yes", and have been told "no." Never been to
:+
Funny some of us were written letters by company attorney when we posted our concerns here
:(
You are right, I told ek to do like ET...
Have they told you that you are going to
be a MEDICAL EDITOR? It's semantics, like the "MLS" title for a transcriptionist. Sounds really impressive to be called a "medical language specialist," but...HELLO...you're a TRANSCRIPTIONIST.
You are going to be nothing more than a custodian, cleaning up the junk that the "hookt on fonix" MACHINE REPLACING YOU has generated and for less money. If the dictators are half decent, you might be able to fly through a report in minimal time, but if you have to sift through the GARBAGE, only to wind up transcribing most of the job yourself, you are definitely going to lose money.
Do you eat only what you are told? If not, try them...
nm
Told me the same
Same bull came from Jennifer week to week.
THANK YOU! I'm usually told how I should RUN
and all kinds of upset stuff.
Thank you! I hope to someday!!!
What I was told
Here is what I was told when
I switched to DQS from Medrite.........
You actually were getting "free lines" on Medrite with the information that populated onto the (TES screen) actual report, for example, patient name, account#, MR#, dictators name, signing physician, address, etc. This accounted for about 6-8 lines per report. Needless to say, and I KNOW THIS FROM EXPERIENCE, a doctor could just hang up on that report and NOT SAY A SINGLE WORD and I would get paid those "free lines" because it was information that populated on the report.
With that being said, if you were typing 8-10 reports an hour, then multiply that by 6-8 for your "free lines" PER REPORT that would account for anywhere from 48 lines to 80 lines AN HOUR! Now, take that 48 to 80 lines per hour and multiply that by how many hours you work in a day. This is why and how you will see a decrease in your lines!
The problem is, is that with DQS, you ARE NOT PAID for the patient's name, account #, MR #, physician name, and so on. I believe this is where the misconception of DQS being a horrible platform and/or MQ screwing their MTs started.
All in all, I am able to type the same amount I was in Medrite per hour. The more you add to your word Expander and familiarize yourself with the platform, the better you will be.
Within a few weeks you will get used to it. I average 300 lines an hour and like DQS very much.
no but I was told that
people who were making a certain rate before DEP training were cut before the training. I heard this second hand from a girl in my class.
That's not what I was told when..sm
I went to work for them. You must be management.
They should not have told you that. sm
There are very few people in this industry that make that much money, especially working for national companies. Do you use a word Expander and do you use it at its fullest potential? The most I ever made was 52K working for a hospital making 10cpl per 57 character line. One other thing you might consider is trying to get your own accounts. Where you may now make 7-10 cpl working with a national, you can make 15-17 cpl with your own account, provided you can handle the workload. Unfortunately, they sometimes fail to tell you that in school. Good luck!
No. Not that they told me. SM
They just told me about the training that I would be going through and kind of just sketched through it. It seemed like they offered okay benefits, but the pay seemed fair. I was just seeing if anyone actually took this position and could tell me more about it. Radiology would be nice too.
Yep, was told would get
...another one, it would be added to my queue that day, but it never happened. This was three weeks ago. How many times should I ask before they get mad at me? It must be nice to be salaried and not have to worry about paying the bills.
they told me no, but when I got the sm
contract, there is a place on there that asks what hours you most likely will be working, so it is not set in stone. I understand that anybody likes to know something but I have talked to others who work for them and they have no problem. I am going to give them a 12 hour span when I could be in there. So far, they have answered my questions to my satisfaction. We will see when I get started. But, I am anticipating everything will be fine.
I was told that too.
/
I know who you are and you have told me
that you never checked to see if they were correct in their calculations when you were an MT - you just assumed they were right. No wonder you've advanced to QA....LOL. They love people like you.
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