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Is it illegal to do freelance work for a competitor of the company you work for?

Employment 5 views 4 answers
I work for a company, let's say Pepsi. Recently a friend of mine quit and got hired by Coke. He's asked me to do some marketing production work for Coke. Pepsi is laying people off left and right and no one knows if they're going to be next. If I don't take the work, I will likely lose the contact for any future work if I DO get laid off. I get that it's not a 'moral' thing to do but is it illegal? if so, how could they ever prove it?

Attorney Answers

4
Jill Eliza GoodmanEmployment / Labor AttorneyWalpole, MA ·
Are you a full time employee of "Pepsi" or an independent contractor? Do you have a non-compete agreement? Even if you don't, you're probably asking to be fired if you deliberately do work for a competitor. Also, if you have any trade secrets or proprietary information, Pepsi can easily take you to court to get an inunction stopping you from doing the work. I don't know enough about the situation to offer true advice (and I don't do that on anyway), but from a common sense perspective, it's not a good idea. As for proving it, competing companies aren't as large as you would think. Word spreads fast. You should speak to an attorney to go into more detail so you can get specific guidance.
0 upvotes
Michael Goldstein ·
The biggest question is whether you have signed a non-compete agreement with your current employer. With that said, taking the law out of it, if the employer finds out that you are working for a direct competitor they may simply terminate you as an employee at will.
0 upvotes
William Cassara ·
Is it illegal? No. Can it get you fired? Yes.
0 upvotes
Pamela Smith ·
You could also be fired for breaching the fiduciary duty you owe to your employer to not actively work for a competitor.
0 upvotes

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