As of yesterday afternoon, employers across the country that utilize noncompete agreements may breathe a sigh of relief, as Judge Ada Brown beat her self-imposed deadline of August 30, 2024 and ordered an end to any...more
8/21/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Restrictive Covenants
In July, this blog alerted you to the outcome of the preliminary injunction rulings in Ryan, LLC v. Federal Trade Commission and ATS Tree Services, LLC v. Federal Trade Commission, which resulted in a 1-1 tie between...more
The Federal Trade Commission promulgated regulations that stand to ban non-compete agreements in employment relationships nationwide. These regulations are scheduled to become effective on September 4, 2024....more
Join us for an informative webinar on the latest developments in the non-compete agreement arena with two members of CDF’s Unfair Competition & Trade Secret Practice Group: Dan M. Forman, Chair, and Ashley A. Halberda who...more
6/11/2024
/ California ,
Confidential Business Information (CBI) ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Notice Requirements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Trade Secrets ,
Webinars
The explosion of AI and the fast pace at which employers are implementing AI into the workplace prompted California regulators to propose new rules that will govern the use of AI tools in employment decisions such as...more
On January 10, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (“Department”) changed the test as to whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). This final rule rescinds the...more
1/12/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Misclassification ,
Over-Time ,
Wage and Hour
In September, California created a cause of action whereby employees may challenge non-compete agreements and win damages and attorney’s fees (see our prior post on “New Golden State Law to Create Gold Rush Litigation Testing...more
For over two decades, California law concluded non-compete agreements are not enforceable in the context of employment, Edwards v. Anderson, 44 Cal.4th 937 (2008) and even created a public policy claim against employers...more
California has gone to great lengths to limit independent contractor relationships and recently, the City of Los Angeles, created additional hurdles to the hiring and use of independent contractors or freelance workers. The...more
8/18/2023
/ City of Los Angeles ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Local Ordinance ,
Wage and Hour
A private class-action complaint claimed that the department store, Saks, and several luxury brands (including Louis Vuitton, Loro Piana, Prada, Brunello and Fendi) violated Federal Antitrust laws when they agreed that each...more
8/15/2023
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Class Action ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Luxury Goods ,
No-Poaching ,
Restraint of Trade ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Unfair Labor Practices
On top of last week’s Senate hearing into artificial intelligence (“AI”) featuring the testimony of OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”)...more
5/22/2023
/ Algorithms ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Automated Decision Systems (ADS) ,
Biometric Information ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Innovative Technology ,
Machine Learning ,
Policy Statement
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed new Federal regulations to ban non-compete clauses from employment agreements nationwide. The ban will include non-solicitation and other restrictions that are currently designed to...more
The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) has stepped up enforcement over no-poach/no-hire agreements under Federal antitrust laws. The DOJ recently tried two criminal cases against individual officers of...more
5/11/2022
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Civil Liability ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Criminal Liability ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
No-Hire/No-Solicitation Agreements ,
No-Poaching ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Trade Secrets ,
Webinars
The Department of Justice (DOJ) finally fulfilled its long time promise to criminally prosecute “no-poach” agreements. A no-poach agreement is an agreement between two or more employers not to hire employees away from each...more
President Biden’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy includes a directive to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to “curtail the unfair use of non-compete clauses and other clauses or agreements...more
7/12/2021
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Biden Administration ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Popular ,
Restrictive Covenants
As enforcement of non-compete agreements and non-solicitation provisions have become more challenging in California, trade secret protection becomes more important to protect your company’s assets. In addition, due to the...more
California’s Labor Commissioner issued a $125,913 fine against a McDonald’s franchisee for retaliating against its former employee who allegedly complained about COVID safety issues before being terminated. The Labor...more
2/24/2021
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fines ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Internal Reporting ,
Labor Code ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Lost Wages ,
McDonalds ,
Retaliation ,
Wage and Hour ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers ,
Workplace Safety