The situation regarding the difficult recipe could be handled under the Uniform Trade Secret Act, as adopted in various states, or under common law related to tortious misappropriation of classified information.
This might be a place where restrictive covenants not to compete aren’t really relevant, and if they disappeared, employees might still have all the tools they need to protect their interests.
Now, we're both in Ohio, where it likely would have been enforceable, but the point I'm making is that a court case wasn't necessary - the mere threat was sufficient.
Got hauled into a meeting with HR and general counsel where they both said basically “we got the same letter; we don’t think we compete nor would a court find we do; we’re sending them the following letter; don’t worry about it and get back to work.”
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/california-court-of-appeal...
> Despite California’s general hostility towards post-termination restrictive covenants, the California Court of Appeal, in a recently published opinion, Blue Mountain Enters., LLC v. Owen, 74 Cal.App.5th 537 (1st Dist. Jan. 10, 2022), affirmed that a post-termination customer non-solicitation agreement was enforceable under California Business & Professions Code § 16601.
> Under most circumstances, contractual provisions that prevent a person from engaging in a profession, trade, or business, including customer non-solicitation agreements, are void in California. However, section 16601 of the California Business and Professions Code carves out a statutory exception to the rule for individuals selling all of their interest, including goodwill, in a business.
> ...
> After Owen’s employment was terminated for cause, Owen established a competing construction services company and sent a letter to Blue Mountain customers stating, among other things, that he was launching his new business with “greater perspective, more resources and a much stronger team.” Blue Mountain obtained preliminary and permanent injunctive relief prohibiting Owen from soliciting its customers and prevailed on its motion for summary judgment adjudication of its breach of contract claim.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/amazon-uses...
https://www.geekwire.com/2019/amazon-sues-former-aws-exec-jo...
Disclosure: I work at Google.
(of course, I live in California.)
It's maybe a little different if you're a chef and you've spent a lifetime mastering a particular recipe which is very hard to get right. You teach it to someone, and he goes out and opens his own restaurant selling that same dish. You can see the intuitive appeal of a noncompete, even if it's usually ineffective, and actually harmful to a high-tech ecosystem.