In Washington state non-competes are ubiquitous, and hair-stylists and estheticians have been sued over them.

That person that waxes people's legs? Works 36 hours a week so the company doesn't have to call them "full-time" and signs a non-compete that says they can't leave and work for someone else for a year within a 10 mile radius of any location of the prior company, which usually means they can't work anywhere within 50 miles of where they live.

It's criminal how these things are used and they should be banned outright.

> In Washington state non-competes are ubiquitous, and hair-stylists and estheticians have been sued over them.

They are no longer enforceable for employees earning less than $100k, or contractors earning under $250k.

What stops the highly organized HN crowd from writing a letter to attorney general of washington?

Applying a noncompete to sales (as in the parent article) or as jimmy johns has done is pretty beyond the pale. I don’t like noncompetes and think they’re hostile but someone at corporate officer level having it enforced is a different world.

It's a wage suppression device. If you live in Washington, you should complain to your state representative.

Do you want to talk to your representative or AG in this case? I also have a wild idea: software engineers can actually lobby this change. They form a non profit organization, make contributions (say 10k each) and go talk to the right politics. This what corps do, but thus is what people can do to.

Did Microsoft actually win the Kaifu case, the one Steve ballmer famously threw the chair about? They settled, but the terms didn’t appear to be in much of Microsoft’s benefit.