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Guaranteed court challenge...not sure how this Court will rule
has Astro ever issued a statement on noncomepetes like the ama?Guaranteed court challenge...not sure how this Court will rule
FTFYhasAstrothe mouthpiece for rad onc at large academic healthcare systems ever issued a statement on noncomepetes like the ama?
Employees- the actual academics at large academic institutions are badly impacted by non competes, but Astro doesn’t represent them either.FTFY
Definitely will be challenged. Anyone have an educated guess on the timeline before resolution?Guaranteed court challenge...not sure how this Court will rule
Hard to say. The rule will be enforced in four months without an appeal. It will likely go to the Supreme Court. 99% chance they will kick it back to the States.Definitely will be challenged. Anyone have an educated guess on the timeline before resolution?
Nonprofit healthcare employers also are exempt from the rule’s reach.
"non-profit"
Abusing your employees is ok as long as you don't have shareholders.
Sad they got the carveout, but I am not surprised.
The AHA isn't happy. Ultimately this will be tested in multiple lawsuits before it all shakes out.The ftc doesn’t have jurisdiction over non profits so this isn’t surprising, so maybe it’s not a specific carve out and hopefully we will something at the federal level perhaps through the irs to reign in abuse by non profits.
The AHA isn't happy. Ultimately this will be tested in multiple lawsuits before it all shakes out.
I don't think it will be that cut and dryHard to say. The rule will be enforced in four months without an appeal. It will likely go to the Supreme Court. 99% chance they will kick it back to the States.
But from the WSJ article:
As such you can probably forget about it.
Sounds like equity PP partners will be exempt as well.
Probably more common with the surgeons I would imagine when the hospital is willing to pay up to get their surgical program off the ground.On what planet would an equity PP partner immediately jump to be a W2 employee at the hospital across the street because his non-compete was no longer chaining him to the burden of managing technical reimbursement?
Probably more common with the surgeons I would imagine when the hospital is willing to pay up to get their surgical program off the ground.
Have heard of instances of specialists getting peeled away from groups with smaller ancillaries like a lab or a couple scanners etc.
At least someone thought to think of this issue. HOPPS has been killing the Medicare physician fee schedule forever. Money talks and will make docs walk
The reality is a lot of hospitals and academic systems will still put the non-compete verbiage into all of their employment contracts even if it is unenforcable. The fact that it is there will discourage many physicians from leaving and joining a competitor. Even for frivolous lawsuits in this country, you need to spend tens of thousands of dollars to litigate. Obviously your employer will have exceptionally deep pockets to make the process as long and painful as possible even if you win in the end.
Don't hold your breath.
On what planet would an equity PP partner immediately jump to be a W2 employee at the hospital across the street because his non-compete was no longer chaining him to the burden of managing technical reimbursement? In a pro-only group, the hospital could always cut your PSA contract if you don't do what they say and employee directly. There's a med onc group in VA that just blew up this way. This is a completely bizarre take.
Also, and this is crazy, one could consider treating their employees well so they don't want to leave. It is not harder to recruit doctors then in demand professionals in any field.
Oh well...Maybe next time. At least this issue was brought out into the light. So many new grads are signing contracts without understanding the implications of the non-compete. They get surprised at the pace but have no choice but to trudge through the job with their head spinning from all the patients they have to see and document on.
Is it illegal to publicly share or discuss contract terms so others can just stay away and not commit to the interview/negotiation process with a hospital or group using onerous non-competes? Like a review system for employers. A non-compete makes you lose one star. More than 4 patients an hour costs another star. Why not?
Unless you've signed an NDA, how could that be illegal? Suggesting you cant talk about it seems like it should be illegal! 🤣
Sounds like some bs Ron would spout?I have heard from some older docs that discussing contract specifics ($/RVU, # days PTO, etc) prior to signing your own contract runs afoul of some vague antitrust laws because of "price fixing" if you use that information to negotiate something equal or better. This is what they sent, but I wasn't really able to find anything else to corroborate it so it's still unclear to me where the line is.
Does anyone know better one way or the other?
Or ASTRO/SCAROP quite franklySounds like some bs Ron would spout?
What you described is mostly a legal bluff that would hold very little if any legal weight once your employment was over. Obviously, if you violate the terms of your agreement while employed, you can be terminated. But unless it was written in a way that clearly stated the consequences of said violation and your consent to the terms (which hopefully no one would sign), they would have to prove some kind of material damage AND intent for any liability. I guess if you did something really stupid like upload the entire contact to Reddit and attached negative commentary, you might find yourself with liability. But word of mouth discussion…no.I have had multiple contracts in the past saying something along the lines of I am not allowed to talk about details of the contract and that I'm not allowed to disparage them. Not sure how enforceable it would be, but I would be careful if you signed the contract and it has that part in it somewhere, and then you go around saying negative things about them (unless they were illegal things, then it's probably okay).
It is complicated, sometimes a grey area. I would ask a lawyer about the contract first of all (of course anything I say is not legal advice). I would recommend anyone that thinks about what they are doing could be burdensome to them on a legal front, that they should look into if their state is an anti-SLAPP state, and also look into if their (former)employer could start a lawsuit from a SLAPP state.What you described is mostly a legal bluff that would hold very little if any legal weight once your employment was over. Obviously, if you violate the terms of your agreement while employed, you can be terminated. But unless it was written in a way that clearly stated the consequences of said violation and your consent to the terms (which hopefully no one would sign), they would have to prove some kind of material damage AND intent for any liability. I guess if you did something really stupid like upload the entire contact to Reddit and attached negative commentary, you might find yourself with liability. But word of mouth discussion…no.
Of course if someone agrees to a condition in a contract, that is potentially enforceable. The issue here is if you explicitly don’t agreee to anything in a contractual manner, can you be forced into silence. Doesn’t pass the smell test. If I don’t sign a confidentiality agreement, why can’t I discuss what was offered in a contract that I did not sign? For example, when a hospital negotiates with vendors like Varian, we sign a confidentially agreement that we won’t discuss the prices offered even if we don’t end up buying the equipment. If that agreement were not signed, there would be no issues disclosing pricesI have had multiple contracts in the past saying something along the lines of I am not allowed to talk about details of the contract and that I'm not allowed to disparage them. Not sure how enforceable it would be, but I would be careful if you signed the contract and it has that part in it somewhere, and then you go around saying negative things about them (unless they were illegal things, then it's probably okay). Now if someone sent you the contract and you didn't sign, well that is a risk they took. If someone had opinions about a certain job that was opinion based (i.e. I was not happy there), that would probably be legal. Etc. This is not legal advice.
Yeah, I agree with that, if you never signed to the contract. I would err on the position of "in my opinion, I was not happy with xyz, maybe some would be.", type of thing. (not legal advice lol)Of course if someone agrees to a condition in a contract, that is potentially enforceable. The issue here is if you explicitly don’t agreee to anything in a contractual manner, can you be forced into silence. Doesn’t pass the smell test. If I don’t sign a confidentiality agreement, why can’t I discuss what was offered in a contract that I did not sign?
It’s more than that. If they stick a statement that you won’t discuss elements of your contract in your employment contract without any further stipulations, most if not all courts would view it as a part of your employment agreement. It would have no meaning once you leave. You have to agree to what you won’t discuss, the length of time you won’t discuss it, and (often) potential consequences for violations. My wife’s best friend is a contracts lawyer. Super common across industries for people to try to sneak vague crap like this which has no meaning. The only reason they have any power is because people believe they do. Like I said before, the way people usually get into trouble is for doing crap like posting it to social media with commentary which clearly shows intent to disparage the company.Of course if someone agrees to a condition in a contract, that is potentially enforceable. The issue here is if you explicitly don’t agreee to anything in a contractual manner, can you be forced into silence. Doesn’t pass the smell test. If I don’t sign a confidentiality agreement, why can’t I discuss what was offered in a contract that I did not sign? For example, when a hospital negotiates with vendors like Varian, we sign a confidentially agreement that we won’t discuss the prices offered even if we don’t end up buying the equipment. If that agreement were not signed, there would be no issues disclosing prices
The thing to remember about civil law is it ultimately comes down to majority opinion. Even if a judge agrees to try the case, it’s a jury of non legal folk who decides (though remember it does not have to be unanimous in civil trials). If you sign something that says I won’t do this for this long or else…reasonable people could say, well you did sign it. But what are the chances they will care if say, 21c comes after a former employee for honestly answering specific questions from a prospective employee? Especially when presented with evidence from your post above which nicely articulated the fact many of these are toeing the legal line to begin with. South Park has a very humorous (albeit highly inappropriate) portrayal of the fluidity of contract law in the imagination land trilogy.Employees have the right to unionize, to join together to advance their interests as employees, and to refrain from such activity. It is unlawful for an employer to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of their rights. For example, employers may not respond to a union organizing drive by threatening, interrogating, or spying on pro-union employees, or by promising benefits if they forget about the union.
Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (the Act) guarantees employees "the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection," as well as the right "to refrain from any or all such activities."
Section 8(a)(1) of the Act makes it an unfair labor practice for an employer "to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed in Section 7" of the Act.
"Section 7 of the NLRA states that: “Employees shall have the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection . . . ” 29 U.S.C. §157. Employees can engage in “concerted activities for the purpose of . . . mutual aid or protection” if they are not in a union. For instance, the 6th Circuit has found that non-union employees who “left the premises together to carry their grievances . . . to the area manager” engaged in action protected by the NLRA. Vic Tanny Int’l v. NLRB, 622 F.2d 237, 238 (6th Cir. 1980). Even something as simple as discussing wages in the workplace may be “concerted activity” subject to the jurisdiction of the NLRA. An employer cannot have a blanket rule banning the discussion of wages by employees. “A rule prohibiting employees from communicating with one another regarding wages, a key objective of organizational activity, undoubtedly tends to interfere with the employees’ right to engage in protected concerted activity.” NLRB v. Main St. Terrace Care Ctr., 218 F.3d 531 (6th Cir. 2000)."
Under NLRA employees have the right to communicate with their coworkers about their wages, as well as with labor organizations, worker centers, the media, and the public. Wages are a vital term and condition of employment, and discussions of wages are often preliminary to organizing or other actions for mutual aid or protection.
[...] you may discuss wages in face-to-face conversations, over the phone, and in written messages. Policies that specifically prohibit the discussion of wages are unlawful as are policies that chill employees from discussing their wages. When using electronic communications, like social media, keep in mind that your employer may have policies against using their equipment for unauthorized use, though it is possible such policies could be unlawful.
Some contracts I have seen are fairly specific in what they deem as items related to employment (>2 pages worth of listing specific details), NDA related signings. NDA information is often in the same section as noncompete agreements, so there may be wording such as "agreement not to disclose information there-within", etc. I agree with ramses, it doesn't seem like they give a time limit for most things, so maybe it is not legally binding outside of employment. If something is unjust or illegal, I think it could be talked about openly without fear, less clear to me if they say you can't discuss specifics of your job contract, but possibly protected by this? Running the contract by a lawyer for clarification of what you're allowed to talk about may be the best way to go about it before talking about specifics of the employment. (Not legal advice)