Previously, we had reported that Lenovo’s former Vice President and head of Lenovo Mobile China, Chang Cheng, announced his decision on leaving the company. After working in Lenovo for 19 years, the senior executive had supposedly retired (due to familial reasons) but today we learned that he has officially joined Xiaomi, its competitor.
The news came as a surprise as Lei Jun, Co-Founder and Chairman of Xiaomi Group, welcomed Chang Cheng as the new Vice President of the Chinese tech giant. However, Lenovo has now released a statement that could possibly entangle the former VP in legal constraints.
According to Lenovo’s statement, all employees working with the company have to sign a non-competition agreement; this means that former employees are under a contract to not enter into a competition of any kind with the employer after the employment period has ended. Hence, Chang Cheng, the former VP of Lenovo, joining Xiaomi technically breaches the contract.
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Lenovo Group’s response states that if a violation in the breach is confirmed, the company will be seeking a recourse within the legal frameworks. In other words, there is a chance of a lawsuit being filed against Chang Cheng if he does not comply with the terms and conditions of breaching a non-competition agreement. The terms and conditions in question will either convey a monetary figure being paid to Lenovo and will most likely have him agree to a non-disclosure agreement regarding Lenovo’s operations.
Notably, a lawyer from a Beijing firm has pointed out that the competition agreement does not fall under mandatory signing. Hence, it will have to be confirmed if both parties have signed the contract. If Chang Cheng is found having has signed a non-competition agreement, he is liable to pay compensation in a fixed amount as stated in the agreement for the violation.
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(Via)
