Amazon Uses ‘Hardball’ Non-Competes in Ways California Rivals Can’t

A lawsuit against a cloud services employee who left to join Google highlights Amazon’s aggressive tactics to retain talent.

Photographer: Christophe Morin/Bloomberg
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When Brian Hall accepted a job at Google early this year, he says his former employer was congratulatory. Amazon.com Inc. cloud-computing boss Andy Jassy said by email that he wished Hall would have stuck around longer, but that he wished him “nothing but the best.”

A human resources executive, informed of Hall’s move in a text message, replied: “Very happy to hear this news.”