WAG Chow files a lawsuit

[bogwoppit]

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...l&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

 

[gymmomtoo]

Are non-compete clauses common for gymnastics coaches?

 

[Becauseisaid]

Non-competes are tricky devils and hard to enforce. Good on Chow for attempting it.

 

[wallinbl]

Non-competes are tricky devils and hard to enforce. Good on Chow for attempting it.

It's scope, time, and location limited, so it's probably relatively easy to enforce. If it were not limited in all of those three ways, he might have trouble, but it seems like a relatively reasonable non-compete.

 

[coachmolly]

Are non-compete clauses common for gymnastics coaches?

I worked at a tiny club for a while that required I sign a non-compete clause- no coaching within a 50 mile radius for a year after leaving the gym. It was primarily a T&T club and though I was a WAG coach and if I would have switched gyms would not have provided much in the way of direct competition, I still had to abide by it. I don't think they would have taken legal action were someone to choose to act otherwise- in fact, some coaches did and started their own club. There was some tension, but nothing legal. They had a different competitive focus (artistic) and sort of sprouted out of another club in town that disbanded their team at around the same time, so wasn't really a source of additional competition in terms of rec. clientele either.

 

[gymdog]

In the US, yes. But lawsuits are rarely filed even when these are violated, it seems. Non-compete clauses can be difficult to enforce legally but it depends. I'm kind of surprised to see this make the news anyway. I would be more surprised to see something come out of it. It's a relatively remote area geographically and courts won't stop someone from making a living or force them to move states generally. I'm not sure how close Triad is to Chows. But my guess is more than one coach has been back and forth between there in their history. My guess is something more went on with this one, who knows.

 

[gymmomtoo]

Triad is fairly close--close enough that gymnasts can go to either gym. I'm guessing it would get no publicity, if it weren't Chow filing the suit.

 

[gymdog]

I guess I meant I had underestimated how much of a notable public figure Chow is in Iowa. If AOGC filed a lawsuit I'm not sure it would make the news in CA. Maybe, I'm just surprised.

If it's close enough that gymnasts can switch, then that is a big concern for most businesses, but it still happens all the time. Usually lawsuits aren't filed. This is a small community where reputation and relationships are important and people usually don't want to jeopardize them. So, who knows what else went on.

 

[Becauseisaid]

It's scope, time, and location limited, so it's probably relatively easy to enforce.

But is it POSITION specific? (Which would actually be a bad thing) If a non-compete states you may not coach at another facility, all the other gym has to do is list you as a consultant. Plus, as another poster mentioned, you cannot keep a person from making a living. That is part of why non-competes are almost impossible to enforce.

 

[iwannacoach]

It looks like a 25 minute drive.

 

[bookworm]

They tried to enforce this in our area when coaches were fired from our old gym and went to another gym to work...and the courts threw out the lawsuit basically telling the old gym that they couldn't force someone to go into a new line of work to make a living and therefore couldn't prevent the old coaches from coaching.

I personally think it's kind of nasty of Chow to do that ...all gyms aren't for every one, coaches included. When our old gym sued the coaches my take on it to them was "worry about your own product, if you have a program people like , they're not going to switch" ...to me it's like telling someone that if they decide to shop at Walmart, they can't go into Target for 2 years! Rubbish...and I'm sure people going to Chow's for Chow and all his success aren't going to follow an unknown coach out the door....I do think there is more to this story though...

 

[JBS]

I'm guessing that it has something to do with the five L9/10's that left Chow's for Triad at the exact same time?

 

[coachmolly]

I'm guessing that it has something to do with the five L9/10's that left Chow's for Triad at the exact same time?

I figured that had something to do with Mike Durante (former Chow's optional coach) leaving for Texas and Chow's being without an adequate replacement? But I have no inside info. What levels does this coach work with? I'm guessing optionals, at least I hope Chow's wouldn't raise such a big stink over a rec coach...

 

[suebee]

In my professional field, non-compete clauses are extremely common - so much so that I would say that they're the norm. However, in the state that I currently live in, non-compete clauses are apparently not allowed or not enforceable or something like that. I found this out when I moved here from another state for a new job and I expressed surprise to my attorney when reviewing my contract that there was no non-compete clause, as I'd always had one before and I had been told by my attorneys that there was really nothing I could do about it as they were typically non-negotiable.

So apparently it is at least somewhat state specific.

 

[Gymishome]

I'm guessing that it has something to do with the five L9/10's that left Chow's for Triad at the exact same time?

What I was thinking.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

the "trade secrets" he learned from the Chinese training system will be thrown out. there is no "secret sauce" in gymnastics. the techniques and the teaching thereof are universal. they are not patented or trademarked pharmaceuticals, etc;

the part he will get them on is solicitation...

 

[coachmolly]

I just did a quick Google search on this lady. Apparently she is the mother of a former Chow's level 10 (now at Triad) who had her own gym at some point in time (not sure where). So that probably has something to do with the added tension.

 

[gymdog]

I'm guessing that it has something to do with the five L9/10's that left Chow's for Triad at the exact same time?

I don't know. Was this coach coaching them? I would think Durante was a bigger factor in that too. He was their head optional JO coach. Maybe this was a beam coach or something though.

But like I said, I'd imagine there's more to the story because these things happen all the time, it sucks and is sometimes "wrong" but usually lawsuits aren't filed. And Chow has been a nice guy to various people. So I don't know. I don't think he's nasty for filing it but I'm curious.

Edit: CoachMolly's info is interesting and adds more to the story.

 

[bookworm]

I'm guessing that it has something to do with the five L9/10's that left Chow's for Triad at the exact same time?

Well there you go...but the question Chow has to ask himself is "why are they leaving me and what aren't they getting here?"

Having been in a "National Team Training Center" during an Olympic cycle (and having removed my Level 10 daughter from said gym during that time) , I can tell you that the HC of that gym was NEVER THERE and I was paying (through the nose ) for the HC's coaching , and it wasn't happening bc we were told "it's the Olympics so don't be selfish and think we are going to coach 10s when we have a potential to go to London" ...and they didn't coach the 10s, nor did anyone of a similar calibre coach them ( the mom at the desk does not equal Level 10 coach) so I pulled them...and I suspect this scenario is what is happening at Chow's...he's probably at the Ranch a week a month, and other times off with his elites (Pac Rims, Worlds etc) , leaving zero time to coach the 10s he has there who aren't doing elite...it's expensive and if the product isn't there , adios

 

[Midwestmommy]

Weird article. The non-compete contract was between the coach and the gym, not between the two gyms. So the second gym didn't breach any contract. Also it seems to be one of those things that probably isn't about what it is really about. The lawyer crafted the languge about "trade secrets" (training techniques), and the "product" is young gymnasts (girls)? Weird. Can't say that I think many folks in Iowa would go for that one. Non-competes usually are more about not taking away business (at least in my industry), and this attorney is going at it (at least according to the article) from a very different angle, probably because they didn't lose much business and to try to get at the gym which theoretically might have deeper pockets....or to try to dissuade them and any coaches in the future. Not too many gymnastic coaches make enough money to pay $15,000 to $50,000 attorneys fees. Strange....the truth about what they are really trying to accomplish (and how) is between the lines somewhere...