Our company (Target Corporation) has recently hired Arthur Valdez, formerly employed by Amazon for 16 years, as a logistics and supply chain executive. We have been sued by Amazon because they say Mr. Valdez can reveal confidential strategy to us. Mr. Valdez is bound by a noncompete agreement he signed in 2012, which requires an 18-month hiatus before he can take a position with similar responsibilities at a rival firm. (You can assume Valdez did not wait the 18 months between working for Amazon and Target. I do not know the exact amount of time but it was only a couple of weeks at most.)
Can they prevent Valdez from working for us? Can they get damages from us?