lystn

Nasir and Matt close out the week by discussing the validity of the noncompete agreements Jimmy John's has employees sign. They then answer the question, "I own a bunch of restaurants and we are considering expansion. Is there anything from a legal standpoint that I should be considering that's different from what I have now?" Vote: Is Jimmy John's Overrated? [yop_poll id="1"] Full Podcast Transcript NASIR: All right. Welcome to our business legal podcast where we cover business legal news and add our legal twist and also answer some of your business legal questions that you, the listener, can send in to ask@legallysoundsmartbusiness.com. Welcome to the program! My name is Nasir Pasha. MATT: And I’m Matt Staub. NASIR: Matt Staub’s still sporting the beard even though I’m looking at him right now and his video is frozen so I can’t tell if he just shaved it between the lag. MATT: I intentionally froze it. This is Episode 109 and we had Episode 107 this week. So, a week of two shows with prime numbers as the episode; this is a good Friday fact for people. NASIR: Yeah. Actually, that’s something that everyone’s writing down right now and really cares about. One thing I like about our show is that we really talk about the issues, you know, that people are really concerned about. MATT: Prime numbers, they’re good ones. Okay. Well, we’re actually going to talk about a topic today that I like. I think there actually is one out here in California because I looked it up before but it’s not necessarily that close. The restaurant, Jimmy John’s… NASIR: Wait. Wait. Wait. MATT: So, if I you’re from… NASIR: Hold on. You like Jimmy John’s? MATT: Oh, yeah! You don’t? NASIR: What? MATT: How are you from the Midwest? NASIR: No, no, I’ve been there many times, but I think it’s one of the most overrated places. MATT: Overrated? NASIR: Mostly by you. MATT: I might quit the podcast. NASIR: I threw you off, didn’t I? Okay. Sorry, go ahead. Jimmy John’s… Go ahead. MATT: So, Jimmy John’s, for those of you who don’t know, it’s a sandwich place. I think they have roughly 2,000 locations. I don’t know exactly. You know, their kind of thing are sandwiches that are really quick and they’re also good in my opinion. But, you know, there’s nothing that’s really that unique about them, I guess. NASIR: Yup! MATT: Well, their sandwiches are good. The bread’s really good. But the big things is, like, speed. There’s been many times I’ve gone there where I’ve ordered at the front and, like, by the time I walk to the cash register to pay, the sandwich has already been made. They’re huge in college towns, obviously, because that’s the prime market right there. NASIR: Which should tell you something, but go ahead. MATT: Wow. So against Jimmy John’s. I don’t know what to say. So, anyways, there’s a new lawsuit evolved, of course. Why else would we be talking about it? Of course, they talk about forcing employees to work off the clock like every business does so that’s nothing new but what I want to talk about here is part of their agreement deals with a non-compete – and this is for the people that make sandwiches, not the owners or anything – a non-compete agreement for the sandwich. You know, I’m sure people making roughly minimum wage. There’s a couple of restrictions, but they cannot work within 3 miles of any of the roughly 2,000 Jimmy John’s locations because they have, you know, they don’t want people leaking… Do they talk about trade secret, too? They don’t want people telling them how it’s done? NASIR: Yeah, you can’t work at any place that does 10 percent of their business from making sandwiches and it’s connected to trade secrets. It seems like that’s what they’re worried about which makes me laugh. Like, what kind of trade secrets are there for making deli sandwiches? I mean, frankly, like you said – I’m using your own words – they don’t have anything unique about them in that respect. If you guys haven’t been there,