Shopee vs. one employee: a look at noncompetition clauses

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Hello reader,

One of the common questions relatives ask during Lunar New Year is, “How’s work?”

For Lim Teck Yong, he could answer – with no hyperbole – that he beat Shopee in a court of law.

The ecommerce giant had sued him for moving to ByteDance and allegedly breaching noncompetition and nonsolicitation restrictions in his employment contract. But the case was dismissed.

If I were Lim, that’s a neat little story I’d be taking every opportunity to bring up.

Today we look at:

• Experts’ opinions on Shopee’s failed attempt to enforce noncompetition clauses
• The AI startup squaring up to Google and Microsoft
• Other newsy highlights such as Qoo10’s acquisition of Wish and Circles’ new leadership

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With great power comes great responsibility – or at least a higher level of discretion

Image credit: Timmy Loen

I’m obviously no legal expert, but my PR-angle lens on the Shopee situation is focused on the optics of the case. There are very few cases where the big corporation is going to be viewed favorably by the public at large when it’s suing an individual, especially for something as simple as changing jobs.

On the balance of things, it just doesn’t seem like it was the brightest idea to sue Lim. Even if Shopee had won, it would’ve looked like a real bully. That’s also the opinion of one of the experts Tech in Asia spoke with.

• Perception matters: “Generally, big corporate organizations that sue individuals will be in a David vs. Goliath situation, and they need to carefully manage communications with key stakeholders to ensure the correct narrative is communicated,” says Cho Pei Lin, a litigation PR expert.
• A human factor: “As for the ethics of noncompete clauses, I think it’s pretty simple. When you limit where someone can work after they quit your company, you’re not just tampering with their LinkedIn profile; you’re manipulating the very DNA of social mobility,” adds Leigh McKiernon, a C-level headhunter in Indonesia.
• The individual surely has more to lose than the big corpo: “Another factor that a court examines is something called the ‘balance of convenience.’ This means that the court will take whichever course appears to carry the lower risk of injustice, should that course turn out to be ultimately ‘wrong,’” points out Max Ng, who leads the regional law practice at Gateway Law Corporation and Gateway IP Services.

Read more: Shopee lawsuit loss sparks debate on noncompetition clauses

Challenging Google and Microsoft at AI

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