As expected, a Texas federal court issued a ruling on August 20, 2024, declaring that the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC’s”) new rule purporting to ban nearly all noncompete agreements shall not “take effect on its...more
8/22/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Lack of Authority ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Set-Asides ,
Statutory Authority ,
Texas
In a highly-anticipated ruling, a Texas federal court concluded on July 3, 2024, that the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) exceeded its authority by enacting its rule in April 2024 that purports to ban nearly all noncompete...more
7/8/2024
/ Appeals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Texas
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) voted 3-2 to issue a new rule that will dramatically impact employers that use noncompete agreements to protect their business interests. In January 2023, the FTC...more
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) voted 3-1 to propose a rule that, if adopted, will dramatically impact companies that use noncompete agreements to protect their business interests. Under the proposed...more
1/9/2023
/ Competition ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Former Employee ,
New Rules ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Popular ,
Proposed Rules ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Unfair Competition
Employees are presumptively deemed to be “at-will” in virtually every state. Recently, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (which oversees federal courts in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee)...more
I’ve previously written about the circumstances in which taking preparatory measures to compete crosses the line so as to become unlawful. A couple of recent Tennessee Court of Appeals decisions provide more insight....more
In November 2017, the Tennessee Court of Appeals upheld a Nashville trial court’s determination that a former employee violated his noncompete agreement by managing employees who solicited competing business in the restricted...more
An employee or former employee who starts preparing to compete with his employer or former may get tripped up in one of two scenarios: (1) breaching a fiduciary duty of loyalty; or (2) running afoul of a noncompete...more
Few things can be more frustrating to an employer than spending significant resources training a new employee, allowing the employee access to trade secrets, and introducing the employee to customers, only for the employee to...more
Originally published in the ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law - Volume 28, Number 1, Fall 2012.
I. Introduction -
"I didn't solicit them; they approached me." That is a common defense invoked by someone accused...more