Earlier quoted context omitted.
Non-competes are flimsy in California, but a bit more on the "maybe" in Washington. It all depends on which employment law his agreement (and the employment agreements of the other writers, if they have them) are under. Anti-poaching is typically a term of the severance and is enforceable typically. EDIT: Corrected below, thanks! Non-competes do apply in acquisitions.
IANAL but my understanding is that an acquisition (eg AOL buying TC) is one scenario where a non-compete holds up, even in CA.
Even outside tech--- there was a Greek restaurant in Santa Cruz whose owner sold it, and then waited exactly N years (I forget what N equals) before opening a new restaurant, due to the noncompete.