dependent manus loading issues when '&' is present

I wrote an application with a series of dependent menus for delivery addressing. Select the company and the contact name address, etc loads. The problem is someone adds a company the '&' in the name. The breaks the dependency connections, usually on edit. Usually, the dependencies still work when adding a new but, when editing, the fields stop loading at the field with the '&'. Is there any work-a-round for this other that telling people to not use '&' in these fields?