In order to limit the non-compete, the Internet manufacturers have also gone to great lengths.
According to the news of Red Star Capital Bureau on May 7, a case disclosed by the China Judgment Document Network on May 6 shows that Baidu Online Network Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Baidu") went to the competitor Beijing ByteDance Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "ByteDance") after the resignation of former employee Pan Mouting, not only sent a courier to the byteDance office address with the recipient pan Mouting, but also provided the court with Pan Mouting's appearance in the byteDance office area. Driving and parking in the ByteDance basement and other video recordings have staged a realistic version of the "spy war blockbuster".
In the end, Baidu won the case. However, the judgment documents did not mention how the video recordings submitted by Baidu were obtained.
Image according to IC photo
Baidu: Former employees joined ByteDance in violation of non-compete agreements
According to the judgment documents, Pan Mouting joined Baidu on April 8, 2011 and served as a senior manager. On June 30, 2017, the two parties signed an open-ended employment contract. The contract stipulates that within one year after the termination/rescission of the labor contract between the employee and Baidu, Baidu shall pay the employee 1/2 of the basic salary of the employee in the year before the employee leaves the employee as economic compensation. Once the employee violates the non-compete obligation, he or she needs to return all the economic compensation that Baidu has paid, and pay 3 times the amount of liquidated damages for the total economic compensation. In addition, if an employee violates the confidentiality obligation stipulated in the contract, he shall also pay a compensation of 50,000 yuan to Baidu.
On April 2, 2020, Pan Mouting left her job for personal reasons. Baidu served it with the Notice of Confidentiality and Non-Compete Obligations. Notice Reminder: From April 3, 2020 to April 2, 2021, Baidu paid Pan Mouting a non-compete compensation of 35,800 yuan per month on a monthly basis. During this period, Pan Mouting shall not engage in or intend to engage in business with Baidu or its affiliates, including but not limited to today's headlines, ByteDance and its affiliates, etc., and will bear the corresponding liability for breach of contract and compensation if it violates the regulations.
From April to October 2020, Baidu paid Pan Mouting a full amount of non-compete compensation on a monthly basis. Later, because Baidu found out that Pan Mouting had worked for ByteDance privately, it suspended the payment of non-compete compensation.
Subsequently, Baidu sued Pan Mouting to the court, requesting the court to order Pan Mouting to pay a liquidated damages of 1,288,800 yuan for breach of non-compete obligations, return 214,800 yuan of non-compete compensation from April 3, 2020 to October 2, 2020, and pay 50,000 yuan for breach of confidentiality obligations, and continue to perform confidentiality obligations.
Former employee: Visiting friends in and out of ByteDance, shooting videos to invade privacy
During the trial, Baidu submitted a number of evidences, including: mail delivery form, mail inquiry information and "Forensic Data Preservation Certificate", the recipient is Pan Mouting, the address is China Aviation Plaza ByteDance Company/ Today's Headlines, Building 2, No. 43 North Third Ring West Road, Haidian District, Beijing, on September 20, 2020, the email was signed for, the recipient was the mailroom, and the video video from July 21 to August 7, 2020 and the corresponding notarial certificate, It was confirmed that Pan Mouting worked at ByteDance and drove many times to park in ByteDance's underground garage.
Evidence submitted by Baidu
Pan Mouting did not recognize the grounds for the breach of non-compete obligations filed by Baidu. She believes that she is not a qualified subject of non-compete restrictions, and there are too many non-compete subjects agreed by Baidu, which restricts Pan Mouting's freedom to choose a career. After leaving his job, he joined Beijing Wanzeyuan Technology Co., Ltd., which has no competitive relationship with Baidu, and there is no competition between his position and work content and Baidu.
At the same time, Pan Mouting does not agree with her work at ByteDance, saying that the reasons for her in and out of ByteDance and parking are mainly to have appointments with friends and visit friends. Pan Mouting also provided the fixed-term employment contract she entered into with Wan Zeyuan Company from April 8, 2020 to April 7, 2023; and the personal rights and interests records of Beijing Social Insurance, which show that the payment unit from April to December 2020 was Wan Zeyuan Company.
During the trial, Pan Mouting argued that baidu provided multiple videos without the permission of the photographer, that the shooting of the video violated the privacy of the subject, and that the source of the video was illegal.
Court: For breach of non-compete obligations, the former employee compensates millions of yuan
After trial, the court held that the two parties signed the Notice of Confidentiality and Non-Compete Obligations and should consciously and fully perform it. From July to August 2020, Pan Mouting parked her car in the underground garage of ByteDance Company several times, and repeatedly went in and out of ByteDance during weekdays, although she claimed to have an appointment with a friend, visited a friend, etc., but did not provide evidence to prove it. Therefore, Pan Mouting should pay Liquidated Damages for Breach of Non-Compete Obligations to Baidu in accordance with the agreement.
The court ruled that Pan Mouting returned Baidu's non-compete compensation of 214,800 yuan; Pan Mouting paid Baidu 859,200 yuan in liquidated damages for breaching its non-compete obligations; and Pan Mouting continued to perform her confidentiality obligations to Baidu.
Court judgment
According to China Fund News, in addition to the frequent use of similar means in the investigation of non-compete disputes, some companies will inquire about the whereabouts of former employees from the front desk of the competition company and secretly record the recording, or ask private detectives to follow the video. There are even companies that check the company's temperature registration form to prove that employees actually work here after job hopping.
Red Star News reporter Li Weiming Li Chen
Responsible editor Ren Zhijiang