Court orders business suspension for pharmacy opened by former employee in same building

A court ruled in favor of a pharmacy that took legal action against a former employee who opened a competing business in the same building, on the grounds that such action goes against good morals and social order.

A court in Ulsan said Sunday that the plaintiff applied for an injunction to prohibit the business operations of a new pharmacy, which was opened in the same building in January by its former part-time pharmacist.

The plaintiff claimed that its former employee, after working there for two years, opened a new pharmacy using the drug list and sales data from the former workplace, raising concerns that the plaintiff's pharmacy may lose customers.

The court ruled that information such as the drug list and sales data constitutes confidential information.

There is a hospital in the same building as the plaintiff’s pharmacy, which has tailored its business to fit the hospital’s needs in terms of the types, amounts and prices of drugs prescribed. Such information is not easily accessible to other pharmacists.

The court said the defendant is deemed to have acquired confidential information with the intent of immediately opening a new pharmacy after resigning, an action that is contrary to good morals and social order.