Ex-Microsoft GM barred from Salesforce job

A US judge has ruled that Microsoft's former worldwide general manager of government can be barred from fulfiling his senior role at Salesforce.com.

King Country Superior Court Judge Kimberly Prochnau yesterday agreed to extend a temporary restraining order which prevents Matt Miszewski from helping Salesforce.com compete with Microsoft, according to Seattle tech news site, TechFlash.

Salesforce.com announced in mid-January that Miszewski would be the SaaS company's new senior vice president of Global Public Sector business. Shortly after, Microsoft launched a suit against him, claiming the role breached a non-compete contract he had signed in 2007.

Salesforce.com has since shifted Miszewski’s role from Global Public Sector sales to one that focused on government accounts within the US.

However, Prochnau rejected an argument by Miszewski’s lawyer that the new scope removed the conflict with Miszewski's non-compete contract.  

Prochnau said Miszewski could take another role with Salesforce.com, but not one that put him in competition with his former role at Microsoft. 

The two companies are amidst an intense battle over cloud-based CRM deployments. Microsoft has offered discounts to salesforce.com customers who switch to its new Dynamics CRM online 2011, and last month launched aggressive pricing which undercuts Salesforce.

In a separate complaint, Microsoft has also accused Miszewski of stealing 25,000 commercially sensitive documents that allegedly detailed its strategy for 2011.

Microsoft said in a statement after the decision that the ruling “affirms the importance of safeguarding sensitive and confidential business information and upholding employment agreements designed to protect that information.”