I was hired in March of 2008 to run a portion of a business in finance for a company based out of California. There was an extremely detailed non-compete which restricts me from selling in this niche of the finance industry for three years if I leave the company. The verbiage does state that the company would avoid a lawsuit and would pursue arbitration if needed.
After nine months, I was terminated due to "lay-offs" with three days notice to the end of the month. I was not given a package of severance pay or anything and my salary was cut off the end of last week.The company in the termination letter stated that they would like to create a new contract with me to act as a consultant.
Many items that were discussed as part of my responsibilities did not come to pass.I was told I would run a new fund that would be developed for this product niche and within three weeks in the job I was told that was not possible. During the entire time I was there the company was negotiating to open a fund with one of MY contacts and it has not happened. The majority of all business I could close would have gone into that fund. I was told I would get leads from headquarters and I did not get any. They did not live up to my expectations as an employer.
Now I need to sign the termination agreement and it has the non-compete as a part of it and I do not want to be held to the non-compete. Do I have any case? Obviously with no income it would be a strain to hire an attorney.
TCR

I can understand your frustration. You can try to negotiate for it to be taken out of the termination agreement. Just know that non-compete clauses are not favored in California courts. Have you browsed through the information in LawInfo's Free Legal Resource Center to learn more about your issue yet? See: http://www.lawinfo.com/consumer.html. You can certainly try to speak to a lawyer to determine what legal options may be available. In the meantime, you may be able to learn more on your own. Search the "Free Legal Resources" tab, or browse the Consumer Resources. Good luck.