
I was not kind to this employer:
It's one thing to bind your managers and other high-level employees to a noncompetition agreement. It's another to require the same of your low-level sandwich makers and cash-register operators. The lower down the food chain you move, the harder it becomes to enforce these agreements.… [W]e're talking about sandwiches. What's the legitimate business interest this employer is trying to protect?
Yet, in the nearly half-decade since, employers have not heeded my advice. And, when employers fail, legislatures sometimes step in to fix.