It's Illegal For Employers To Demand You Buy From Them, Or To Not Buy From A Competitor

For some reason, lately I'm running into employers that are firing employees because they are doing business with a competitor or a merchant they don't like. In Florida, and I'm guessing in some other states, this is flatly illegal.

An employer in Florida cannot demand that an employee buy from them or deal with them. Nor can an employer demand an employee not do business with any other company.

Fla. Stat. Sec. 448.03 provides: 

Threat of discharge to compel employee to trade with any particular firm or person; penalty.—Any person or persons, firm, joint stock company, association or corporation organized, chartered or incorporated by and under the laws of this state, either as owner or lessee, having persons in their service as employees, who shall discharge any employee or threaten to discharge any employee in their service for trading or dealing, or for not trading or dealing as a customer or patron with any particular merchant or other person or class of persons in any business calling, or shall notify any employee either by general or special notice, directly or indirectly, secretly or openly given, not to trade or deal as a customer or patron with any particular merchant or person or class of persons in any business or calling, under penalty of being discharged from the service of such person, firm, joint stock company, corporation or association shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

The law provides criminal penalties for officers and agents who violate:

448.04 Penalty for officer or agent violating s. 448.03.—Any person acting as an officer or agent of any firm, joint stock company, association or corporation of the kind and character as described in s. 448.03 or for any one of them, who makes or executes any notice, order or threat of the kind therein mentioned and forbidden, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

In 33 years of law practice, I'd never seen this as an issue before. Now I've seen it twice in a few weeks. So this is my reminder that violating this law is a crime in Florida. Please cut it out.