My Facebook and Twitter feeds were blowing up yesterday with links to articles at NYTimes.com, Huffington Post, and Jezebel about how the sandwich chain, Jimmy John’s, supposedly makes its sandwich makers and delivery drivers sign these non-competition agreements. These agreements purport to preclude employees from working for certain nearby competitors for two…
In Pennsylvania, a company and an employee can enter into an agreement whereby, in exchange for some form of consideration, the employee agrees not to compete with the company after the employment ends. Consideration can come in a variety of forms; for example, a raise, bonus, promotion, or sugar. Initial employment…
You’re hiring for an engineer position. To assist, you engage a search firm, which finally locates an ideal candidate. After a telephone conversation, and a subsequent tour and in-depth interview, you know that you have the right person for the job. So, you prepare and send an offer letter. The…
You’re looking to hire a new salesperson. Scott Salesperson comes in to interview. He currently works for your top competitor. “Scott, do you have a non-competition agreement?” “No.” “Scott, do you have a confidentiality agreement?” “No. In fact, I have a list of my own customers that I could sell…
Last week, Jon Hyman at the Ohio Employer Law Blog was on point with this good post discussing a recent National Labor Relations Board Administrative Law Judge decision. The case involved what the NLRB General Counsel believed was an overly-broad social media policy in two regards: It banned employees from…
As reported here in September, the State of New Jersey was recommending passage of the New Jersey Trade Secrets Act. Well, welcome to the party, pal. (Or is it Powell?). Last week, NJ became the 47th state to adopt a version of the uniform trade secrets act as Governor Christie signed…
powered by Fotopedia Yesterday, we looked at a recent federal-court decision to determine whether LinkedIn connections are considered trade secrets. Today, after the jump, we look at whether your business has any protectible interest in a LinkedIn account that you create and maintain for your employees. * * * Let’s…
Over the past several weeks, you probably read about this case involving a company suing one of its former employees whom it alleges misappropriated a Twitter account and, along with it, 17,000 Twitter followers that the company believes it owns. A video about the case follows below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hV2lCnG5VA A fight over…
Raise your hand if your state has adopted a Uniform Trade Secrets Act — a law that affords companies an additional layer of protection by providing for civil remedies in cases of trade-secret theft by employees and others. Not so fast, New Jersey. Well, all that may be…
In a matter of minutes, or even seconds, a single tweet may reach thousands or, possibly, millions of people. Now, just imagine if that tweet contained proprietary information. (You know, like if Lady Gaga tweeted the code to Microsoft Windows 7 to her millions of followers). Ummm…work with me here……