In June of 2022, McDonald’s obtained a judgment on the pleadings, ending antitrust litigation challenging the legality of the no-hire restraints it previously included in its franchise agreements. More than a year later, the...more
10/4/2023
/ Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Class Action ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Former Employee ,
Franchise Agreements ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Judgment on the Pleadings ,
McDonalds ,
No-Hire/No-Solicitation Agreements ,
No-Poaching ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Sherman Act ,
Statutory Violations
The Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division recently suffered another setback in its most recent effort to secure criminal convictions for labor-side violations of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. Having finally secured a...more
Antitrust in labor markets remains a “hot topic” for government, business, and labor. The antitrust enforcement agencies, consistent with the Biden administration’s “Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American...more
The Biden administration's Department of Justice, Antitrust Division (DOJ) continues a practice largely begun under the Trump administration of intervening in private litigation and requesting permission to file statements of...more
Many recent no-poach agreement antitrust claims have risen within the franchise context, where the alleged agreement was plainly described in the operative franchise agreements. In those cases, the parties fought over what...more
Over the past five years, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and civil litigants have rigorously challenged the lawfulness of buy-side restraints of trade, including noncompetes, no-poach, and nonsolicitation agreements, under...more
Since issuing its 2016 Antitrust Guidance affirming focus on enforcement of fair competition in labor-employment buy-side markets and warning of criminal remedies for those participating in illegal no-poach agreements, the...more
Are franchisees dependent offshoots of their franchisors, or are they standalone businesses capable of independent decision-making?...more
On April 13, the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition and the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (the Agencies) issued a joint statement reiterating that antitrust laws protect U.S. labor markets even...more
Over the last 18 months, no-poach provisions in franchise agreements have drawn considerable attention from academics, state attorneys general, politicians, and the class action plaintiffs’ bar.
Originally published in...more
1/8/2019
/ Class Action ,
Competition ,
Employee Solicitation ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Food Service Workers ,
Franchise Agreements ,
Franchisee ,
Franchises ,
Franchisors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Jimmy John's ,
McDonalds ,
No-Poaching
In order to avoid a lawsuit by the Washington State Attorney General, seven fast-food chains with store locations nationwide agreed to no longer enforce “no-poach/no-hire” provisions in their franchise agreements and to...more
Agreements among companies to not hire each other’s workers are more risky than ever. The DOJ’s Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division, Makan Delrahim, stated on January 19 that the division has criminal cases...more
4/5/2018
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Franchise Agreements ,
Franchises ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Venture ,
Legislative Agendas ,
No-Poaching ,
Proposed Legislation