You’ve probably heard a lot about soulless companies that take advantage of their employees. Some businesses, however, can haunt their staff even after they no longer work there. Case in point, Reddit user u/WhitePinoy, a cancer survivor, shared how their workplace fired them right after they finished radiation therapy.

Not only that, but their former employer is trying to intimidate them into signing a non-compete agreement after they’ve already started working elsewhere. The redditor turned to the internet for some advice and many folks were happy to help. Scroll down for the full story. Bored Panda has reached out to u/WhitePinoy via Reddit, and we’ll update the article as soon as we hear back from them.

Some companies are utterly shameless about how they treat their current and former employees

Image credits: RDNE Stock project (not the actual photo)

A cancer survivor shared how their former employer tried to intimidate them after firing them

Image credits: Priscilla Du Preez (not the actual photo)

Image credits: WhitePinoy

Threatening former workers is more than unprofessional

The author of the viral r/antiwork post, u/WhitePinoy, noted that they were let go soon after finishing their radiation therapy. They’d been put on a performance improvement plan and then fired. Luckily, they found a wonderful job with great perks at another business. However, the company they’d worked at previously didn’t seem to want to let go.

These days, it’s pretty standard to sign non-disclosure and non-compete agreements when starting a new position. However, it’s mind-boggling that any former employer would try to force an ex-member of their team to sign new documents after they’d already fired them.

The company also threatened the OP with legal action if they wouldn’t sign the non-compete clause after they’d already started their new job elsewhere. This sort of intimidation is unprofessional. Not only that, but it speaks volumes about the former employer’s opinion of its staff.

Because there is absolutely no relationship between the former employer and the OP, there’s literally no way that they can make them sign, well, anything at all. The situation would be very different if they were still employed there or applying for a position there.

However, as things stand currently, the OP has already taken up a new position elsewhere. It’s only by signing the non-compete clause with their former employer that they’d put themselves in a position where they could get sued.

Image credits: MART PRODUCTION (not the actual photo)

Non-compete agreements are pretty much standard, but you can always negotiate

Whatever the case might be, it’s really best for the author of the post to get in touch with a lawyer who specializes in labor law to get their advice on how to proceed next. Meanwhile, some Reddit users had some spot-on tips on what to do. Namely, ignoring the threats from the former employer and documenting all of their communication. That way, there would be evidence of intimidation if this ever goes to court.

Non-compete agreements are generally signed as a company formally employs you. Broadly speaking, if you don’t want to sign them, then you might not get the position you wanted.

It’s advisable to read every document in detail, either way. And it’s always possible to try to negotiate the terms of the agreement. For instance, if you feel that the term of the non-compete clause is too lengthy or if you think that something’s worded too vaguely.

Other times, the business may make you sign a non-compete clause after you’ve already joined. “Sometimes, if you can prove that the agreement will cause untold hardship on you by preventing you from getting new jobs, you can also get out of signing a non-compete agreement,” Aeton Law Partners explains.

Image credits: Sora Shimazaki (not the actual photo)

Some companies offer perks to their staff in order to get them to sign the documents

Meanwhile, Donna Ballman, who runs an employee advocacy law firm in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, told CNN that it’s advisable to read everything that your employer “puts in front of you.” It’s also perfectly fine to ask questions about the documents, including why the employer feels it’s necessary to sign non-compete clauses.

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Some companies offer their employees some guarantees for agreeing to these provisions. That could be extra pay, training, or even a promotion. Others point out that they might pay you a certain amount of money for a specific amount of time after you leave so you don’t join a competitor. Though, of course, there will always be businesses who use the very blunt “sign or we’ll fire you” approach. A lot depends on the country and state.

If you do want to work at another company after you’ve already signed all of these binding documents, then it’s essential that you communicate this to your current employer. The more transparent you are, the better.

According to Ballman, you should loop your employer into the fact that you’ve received a job offer elsewhere. Odds are that they’ll respond in one of three ways. They’ll either be okay with you jumping ship, they’ll tell you that they’ll sue if you try to leave, or they’ll ask you what they can do to convince you to stay.

Image credits: Edmond Dantès (not the actual photo)

Many internet users showed their support and gave the author some practical advice

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