Is signing a contract addressed for someone else enforceable?

Question

I recently had to sign an NDA and non-compete. Originally, HR mistakenly had a different employee's name as the "Employee" which was then used to refer to this person throughout the contract. There was a cover sheet addressed to me, but the actual contract was for someone else.

I pointed out the mistake and received a corrected copy which I then signed.

It did have me thinking, though, what the legal implications of this would have been. If I had hastily skimmed the contract before signing and not noticed, is this NDA enforceable? Could I have had any liability for signing for someone else? If I were to leave and join a company which they took issue with via the non-compete, would the contract hold up in court since it was addressed to someone else?

Answer 1

The contract would be binding

Many people make the mistake of thinking that the document is the contract - it isn’t. The contract is the binding legal relationship between the parties of which any documents are just evidence for.

As this is a simple mistake on the document misidentifying one of the parties, it’s irrelevant. You and the company are clearly the parties to the contract - you because you signed it and they because they sent it to you.

Minor errors in one or more of the documents that make up a contract are immaterial.