they want you to stop doing? I haven't looked at it closely, but I believe one federal court has already issued a stay against the new rule that invalidates non-compete clauses. Even leaving that aside, if they are alleging your new employee would violate trade secret protections or other issues that are still protectable even if the no non-compete rule holds up, then you want to take a look at the situation closely before proceeding.

Does your new employee have customer lists from his soon-to-be former employer. Has he/she bid on work that you will also plan to bid on? Did he/she learn highly specialized things from the former employer or will he/she be in possession of the former employer's trade secrets. And there are more issues I'm not including.

It may wind up being a complicated situation and you and your company may well wind up in court over it.