The new Abercrombie, Hollister or Aeropostale?

It appears that a Miami company (who will remain nameless) wants to emulate the style of Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister and Aeropostale. How do I know that? We'll they've got an ad looking for graphic artist who works for A&F. At the bottom of the ad is this:

Must have worked or working for Abercrombie, Hollister or Aeropostale.

What's interesting, is that the same company has ads in the New York and Miami for graphic artists, but does not have the requirement of having worked at those three companies. I wonder if they think Columbus graphic artist can only do the job if they worked for one of those three companies, but that NY and Miami graphic artists are so good that they don't need such experience.

Tounge and cheek aside, the real reason for this post is to raise the potential problems of actively recruiting and hiring your competitor's employees. I'm not saying the company is necessarily doing anything wrong, but just pointing out a potential problem for you to consider. Here's a fine article outlining the Seven Deadly IP Sins in Employee Hiring.

Other links:

California Supreme Court holds that a company "may be liable for intentional interference for having induced a competitor's at-will employee to quit and join the defendents."

When is Raiding a Competitor's Employee's Illegal?

Raiding the Competition ... Without Getting Sued