Florida Employer Contacted A Company I Was Going To Work For And They Pulled The Job Offer. What Can I Do?

Location: Florida

I’ve worked for my current employer (“Company A”) for about 3 years. We’re a medical licensing/credentialing company. Basically, I handle getting doctors licensed in different states, controlled substance registrations, DEA registrations, verifications, etc.

I recently got an offer from “Company B”. The job would be doing credentialing/provider enrollment for Company Bs own doctors/providers. Company B isn’t a company that sells credentialing or medical licensing services to other companies. I would just be doing that work internally for them.

Because my current employment agreement has a non-compete, I looked it over before accepting the job. The non-compete says that during employment and for 3 years afterward, I can’t work for or be associated with an entity that is involved in selling services that are “substantially similar” to my employer’s services. It also has language about solicitation and interfering with business relationships. There are also confidentiality provisions and a $200,000 liquidated damages provision for violations of certain parts of the agreement.

I have not taken any Company A documents, client information, templates, proprietary information, etc. to Company B. I also didn’t try to take any Company A clients with me.

Once my employer found out about the job, they contacted Company B. My employer has now actually admitted this in writing. They told me: “(Company A) did communicate with (Company B) regarding the circumstances surrounding the opportunity, including that (Company A) provides services relevant to the position you described and that you are subject to an existing Employment Agreement containing continuing contractual obligations. Company B subsequently advised Company A that it would not move forward with your candidacy.”

After that conversation, Company B pulled the job offer. I’m now on paid administrative leave and have a meeting with my employer on Monday. I asked my employer to explain exactly what part of my agreement they believe prevents me from taking the job. I also asked how they believe working internally for Company B is substantially similar to what my current company does, since Company B isn’t selling those services to anyone. I also asked them whether they consider Company B a competitor, what specifically they told them, whether they told them I was legally prohibited from taking the job, and what part of the business relationship they believe affects my personal employment. They basically told me they aren’t going to answer all of that by email and will discuss it with me at the meeting Monday.

One thing that seems important to me is that my employment agreement also says the rights under the agreement belong to the employee and the company and specifically says that no other person or entity is a third-party beneficiary.

So I’m trying to figure out where I stand here. My questions are:

1. Does this type of non-compete actually appear to prevent me from taking an internal credentialing/provider enrollment job with a healthcare company like Company B?
   
2. Does it make a difference that Company B isn’t selling credentialing/licensing services to outside customers?
   
3. Could my employer contacting Company B and causing them to withdraw the job potentially give me some type of claim against my employer?
   
4. Does the fact that my employer admitted in writing that they contacted Company B and that Company B subsequently withdrew the offer matter?
   
5. Does the fact that Company B is a client of my current employer change anything?
   
6. What should I be careful about saying during the meeting Monday?

I know nobody here is my lawyer and I’m not looking for someone to tell me definitively that I have a lawsuit. I’m mostly trying to understand what issues I should be discussing with an employment attorney and what I should be careful about doing/saying on Monday.

I can post the actual non-compete language if that would help.