IBM Slaps Ex-Exec with Lawsuit for Jumping Ship to Oracle
IBM Slaps Ex-Exec with Lawsuit for Jumping Ship to Oracle
Posted 06/28/2010 at 5:06am
| by Paul Lilly
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It's said that breaking up is hard to do, but have you ever had an ex take you to court to prevent you from seeing someone else? That's not uncommon in the business world, and as former IBM senior executive Joanne Olsen is finding out, breaking up is indeed hard to do.
After serving 31 years with IBM, Oracle managed to dangle a big enough carrot in front of Olsen to lure her away from IBM just as the rivalry between the two companies hit an all time high following Oracle's $5.6 billion buyout of Sun Microsystems. The move has IBM crying foul, which contends that Olsen has violated the terms of the non-competition agreement she signed with IBM. Under terms of the agreement, Olsen must wait a year after leaving IBM before rendering services for a competitor.
"Joanne Olsen possesses valuable confidential information about IBM and our operations. As a result, she cannot undertake a senior position at Oracle without violating her obligations to IBM," said IBM spokesman Doug Shelton.
Olsen, Oracle, and each one's legal team has yet to respond to the accusations.
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Rocketpop
June 28, 2010 at 5:40am
This seems like a pretty clear-cut case, and there have been others very similar before it. It's pretty basic stuff for execs not to be allowed to switch to a competing company right away. It was in her agreement beforehand, so there's nothing she can do.
Tekzel
July 02, 2010 at 6:01am
Yea, I think people can often get non-competes thrown out if they are restrictive enough to prevent a person from earning a living for an undue amount of time... but, something tells me this woman could take a year off without putting a dent in her lifestyle. I suspect this will go in IBM's favor.
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