Startup Poaches Groupon's Salespeople, Groupon Fires Off Legal Warning

techvibes.com

6 points·techvibes··6 comments

Headline discards context. The issue isn't that it's unlawful for THM to target and hire Groupon associates. It's that Groupons have nonsolicits in their contracts. Groupon is (reasonably) concerned that, having hired a quorum of ex-Groupons, THM is now in a very good position to persuade those ex-Groupons to ignore their nonsolicits and reach out to current Groupons.

Groupon hasn't told THM to stop poaching employees. It has simply warned THM not to use ex-Groupons to do it.

It's that Groupons have nonsolicits in their contracts.

It isn't that, either. It's that Groupon is rather fancifully implying that, beyond being merely unseemly or in bad form, it is somehow "tantamount to contractual interference" for THM to do so. It also implies that THM would "expose itself to litigation" for encouraging Groupon employees to violate their non-competes, an even more baseless assertion.

It is true. We ensure that the only people included in our recruiting process haven't worked at the companies we hire from and we don't ask for referrals from people we hire to avoid putting them in a compromising position.

We've interviewed well over 100 Groupon salespeople and have only made a handful of offers. The reason people take our call is really because we're an exciting company that's making a meaningful impact in education, not because of unscrupulous hiring practices.

A very callow and pretentious move on Groupon's part, if true.

Full letter from Groupon's lawyer is attached to the Techvibes' article.

Right, but what it amounts to is a bald attempt at intimidation with no legal standing. What they're saying, basically, is "we don't like that you're doing this, and if you don't stop, you're going get whacked."

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