Non Disclosure Agreements Case Study

Non-compete or non-disclosure agreements are very common amongst big corporations and many businesses. Its purpose is to restrict employees or former employees of a business from disclosing company information or enter in a similar profession with specific regulations such as a certain distance within the former business or a competitor business. These kind of contracts make sense when it comes to higher up positions within a company but as of recently the controversy has risen about big corporations such as Jimmy Johns the sandwich based food chain. It has been brought to the attention of the public that this huge franchise makes the bottom of their employee chain sign non compete agreements. These are the employees who simply make the sandwiches
According to an article written in the New York times titled “When the Guy Making Your Sandwich Has a Noncompete Clause” Jimmy john's is a 2,000 location sandwich business that hires little to no skill
If a former employee of Jimmy John’s were to actually give away their recipes, even though one could order the sandwich themselves and look what is inside it, the greater outcome would be to enforce these restrictions due the act of producing the greatest happiness would coincide with the company's interest to secure their information. If one were to apply the deontological and virtue perspective they would consider frameworks of morality and character. The philosophies would apply depending on the circumstance. For example if a worker was mistreated at their former job and the only means of surviving is through these low skilled jobs, it is not ethical to try to restrict someone from improving their lives. Every human has a right to be happy and if that means leaving a job that does not serve a positive purpose, the deontological and virtue concept would side with the employer. The morality to restrict a former employee from working for let's say, two years because of the contract they signed is unethical. These minimum wage jobs are not ceo jobs, workers are replaceable. There is no need to chain an employee legally to a corporation that does not serve a purpose in their life anymore. Though the legality of the situation does not incorporate the character of these employees because it is based on a contract, the