Happy Friday!
Today’s headline in the ABAJournal: Illinois attorney general sues Jimmy John’s over noncompete clauses for low-wage workers
Yikes.
A few years ago I posted on this issue
According to the ABAJournal:
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan claims in a lawsuit that Jimmy John’s sandwich restaurants are violating state law by requiring low-wage workers to sign restrictive noncompete agreements.
Apparently, according to the lawsuit, Jimmy Johns had indicated it no longer required employees to sign the non-competes, but it later never implemented this plan.
Yikes.
In Michigan, Non-Competes are enforceable to protect legitimate business interests.
MCL 445.774a provides:
“1) An employer may obtain from an employee an agreement or covenant which protects an employer’s reasonable competitive business interests…”
As I stated in my prior post – even if Jimmy John’s non-competes were enforceable – to what end? Why have employees sign them?
I would hate to be the lawyer representing Jimmy John’s to enforce an injunction in Grand Rapids Circuit Court to enjoin an 18-year old from making sandwiches…
e-mail: Jeshua@dwlawpc.com
Twitter: @JeshuaTLauka
Purpose Driven General Counsel 
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