antitrust

FTC poised to consider regulation of non-competes

By Jared Klaus on January 8, 2020

microphone at podium Federal regulation of employee non-compete agreements will be the focus of a workshop hosted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020, in Washington, DC. First announced by the FTC on Dec. 5, 2019, the purpose of the workshop is “to examine whether there is a sufficient legal basis and empirical economic support to promulgate a Commission Rule that would restrict the use of non-compete clauses in employer-employee employment contracts.”

The FTC has now released the agenda for the workshop, which is titled “Non-Compete Clauses in the Workplace: Examining Antitrust and Consumer Protection Issues” and will be webcast live. Among the topics that will be addressed by the speakers and panelists – which include mostly law professors, economists and policy analysts, and only one practicing attorney – are the economic effects of non-competes, the FTC’s authority to address non-competes and whether the FTC should initiate a rulemaking regarding non-competes. The FTC has released the following list of questions that will be addressed at the workshop, and on which the FTC is soliciting public comment through Feb. 10, 2020:
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Federal judge rejects the proposed settlement for tech companies who allegedly violated antitrust law by agreeing not to solicit each other’s employees

By Jay L. Levine on August 18, 2014

We previously discussed here the antitrust case involving several high-tech companies who allegedly entered into bilateral agreements in which they agreed not to solicit each other’s employees. These companies settled with the U.S. Department of Justice and were subsequently sued by a class of software engineers. Early on, Intuit and Pixar/Lucasfilm settled, and recently the…

Tech companies can’t escape antitrust liability for agreeing not to solicit competitors’ employees

By Jay L. Levine on April 11, 2014

Sometimes, the worlds of antitrust law and employment law intersect. For example, as most businesses know, it is generally permissible under federal, state, and local law for employers to enter into non-recruitment or non-competition agreements with their employees that are reasonably tailored to prevent unfair competition. A non-recruitment agreement typically prohibits an employee from stealing…