News

Judge Blocks Salesforce from Hiring Ex-Microsoft Employee

A Washington superior court judge today enforced a temporary restraining order preventing Salesforce.com from hiring a former Microsoft employee for an executive sales position.

According to a TechFlash article, Judge Kimberly Prochnau ruled that former Redmond employee Matt Miszewski cannot accept the position of "senior vice president for the global public sector" at Salesforce.com because it would compromise the non-compete contract that Miszewski signed with Microsoft. On those same grounds, Judge Prochnau rejected an argument by Miszewski's attorney that his client's work would be restricted to the U.S. market. According to the article, Judge Prochnau ruled that Miszewski can work at Salesforce.com only if the work does not compete with his former position at Microsoft.

Under the terms of Miszewski's contract, as described by Microsoft, Miszewski is prohibited from working with a competitor for one year's time after leaving Microsoft. Miszewski, who served as Microsoft's general manager of worldwide government, quit the company in December to work for California-based Salesforce.com.

The court hearings are happening in the King County Superior Court in Washington because Miszewski's contract with Microsoft specifies that venue. It is thought that California courts would be less receptive to enforcing such non-compete clauses in employment contracts.

Microsoft's lawyers have claimed that Miszewski knows Microsoft trade secrets and could cause "irreparable harm" to the company. They also claim that Miszewski stole 600 MB worth of documents when he left Microsoft.

Microsoft and Salesforce.com are competitors in the hosted customer relationship management software market.

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

Featured

  • Report: Cost, Sustainability Drive DaaS Adoption Beyond Remote Work

    Gartner's 2025 Magic Quadrant for Desktop as a Service reveals that while secure remote access remains a key driver of DaaS adoption, a growing number of deployments now focus on broader efficiency goals.

  • Windows 365 Reserve, Microsoft's Cloud PC Rental Service, Hits Preview

    Microsoft has launched a limited public preview of its new "Windows 365 Reserve" service, which lets organizations rent cloud PC instances in the event their Windows devices are stolen, lost or damaged.

  • Hands-On AI Skills Now Outshine Certs in Salary Stakes

    For AI-related roles, employers are prioritizing verifiable, hands-on abilities over framed certificates -- and they're paying a premium for it.

  • Roadblocks in Enterprise AI: Data and Skills Shortfalls Could Cost Millions

    Businesses risk losing up to $87 million a year if they fail to catch up with AI innovation, according to the Couchbase FY 2026 CIO AI Survey released this month.