The First Appellate District Court of Appeal in San Francisco dismissed an appeal Wednesday from Compubahn, a company that finds foreign programmers and places them at contract jobs in the United States. Previously, a judge ruled that Compubahn could not include restrictive, non-compete clauses in its employment contracts. The company appealed the decision.
The dismissal of the appeal means that the company can no longer include certain restrictions in work contracts with foreign professionals with H-1B visas. Compubahn required some skilled workers to pay US$25,000 "finder's fees," and prohibited programmers from working directly for a corporate client or having "a meeting to discuss the possibility" of doing so for a year after quitting Compubahn.
The court, which rejected the appeal because Compubahn missed a filing deadline, did not include a judge's opinion. That means that the case does not provide official legal precedent for other H-1B visa holders who are suing their employers and former employers.
But Michael Papuc, the San Francisco-based attorney for defendant Dipen Joshi, said the case could still wield influence. Lawyers in similar cases could ask their judges to take "judicial notice" of the Compubahn case, thereby giving it "persuasive authority".
"It's not binding on any trial or appellate judge," Papuc said in a phone interview Monday. "However, the mere fact that this issue was resolved in favor of an H-1B (holder) at the trial level gives other H-1Bs hope that they too may fight recruitment firms that try to hold them to restrictive covenants in California."
Lawyers at The Chugh Firm, which represents Compubahn and other recruitment companies, did not respond to calls or email seeking comment.
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