Ford to Sue Former Executive

When Martin Collins resigned his position at Ford F to take a job as President of the Friedkin Group, a Toyota TM distributor, he probably felt as if he had pulled off a masterstroke. Ford is, of course, planning to sue on the grounds that Collins has violated the noncompete agreement that he signed when he started with Ford, less than a year before he quit. That will be interesting because, as his legal team are keen to point out, Collins is not actually employed by Toyota. However, it does seem as if Collins will have to repay a $900,000 signing fee that Ford gave him, because he resigned his position after less than a year. According to the Detroit Free Press, “The Dearborn automaker is seeking to ban Martin Collins, who had been a general sales manager for Ford and Lincoln brands since May 2, from taking a new position with Gulf States Toyota and to collect damages of more than $25,000.” Collins' attorney, William John Bux, is sticking to that “but he is not employed by Toyota” line, so the case will likely be determined by how thorough Ford was with the small print in that noncompete document. "Mr. Collins will not be engaged in business activities competitive with Ford and will not be interacting with Gulf States Toyota, at least until the noncompete issue is resolved to its satisfaction," Bux said. Still, one can understand why Ford is a little miffed. It is not difficult to see the acquisition of Collins by a distributor as a genuine attack on Ford, though at the same time executives move around all the time. Either way, Ford seems to have every right to want that signing fee back (if the details that have been made public are correct). Collins' base salary was $400,000. According to the article, “Ford filed a copy of what it labeled a ‘Confidential Information/Non-Compete Agreement,' in which Collins pledged not to engage in a business similar to Ford's or in any way competitive with Ford for up to two years after he ends his employment with Ford.” Based on that, it would seem that Ford has a strong case. At the very least, Collins might want to start preparing to lose $900,000.