Non-competes are illegal to enforce in California. Undoubtedly the majority of these employees were terminated in, and re-hired in Cali... if these employees even exist.
I'm interested to see more details of this come out. It'll be interesting to see a high profile challenge to that law, if that's what he's attempting.
B5 nerds will get mad, but watch the original with a skiplist.
B5 is great, but really uneven and has some corny bits. If you find it compelling after a bit of watching, ditch the skiplist and just watch it all from there out.