On April 22, 2025, the Tenth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of a sales manager and his new employer on claims under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”), the Oklahoma Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“OUTSA”), and...more
On April 9, 2025, Kansas Governor Laura Kelley signed into law Senate Bill No. 241 (the “Bill”), which amends the Kansas Restraint of Trade Act (the “Act”) to (a) create presumptions of enforceability for non-solicitation...more
5/2/2025
/ Contract Terms ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Contract ,
Enforcement ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State Labor Laws
On March 24, 2025, Virginia Governor Glenn Younkin signed into law S.B. 1218, which amended Virginia’s non-compete law to expand the definition of “low-wage employees” with whom employers may not enter into non-competition...more
4/8/2025
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
On March 13, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York dismissed a trade secret misappropriation claim under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”), finding that the employer failed to plead it had...more
A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit allowed an employer to enforce a “forfeiture-for-competition” against a former plant manager. The Court explained that, under Delaware law, forfeiture-for...more
Following our annual tradition — which started over a decade ago — we are analyzing the year's 10 most significant whistleblower and retaliation events.
As you'll see, in 2024, actions taken by a range of courts and...more
12/20/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Appointments Clause ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Article III ,
Asbestos ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Bribery ,
CFTC ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Contract Terms ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corruption ,
Credit Reporting Agencies ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Financial Institutions ,
Healthcare ,
Incentives ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Kickbacks ,
MI Supreme Court ,
OSHA ,
Qui Tam ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Settlement ,
Statutory Requirements ,
Summary Judgment ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblowers
On October 18, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) gave notice that it would appeal a Texas federal court’s decision halting its non-compete rule (the “Rule”) from taking effect as to all employers nationwide. The...more
The Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in Parker v. BNSF Railway Company, 112 F.4th 687 (9th Cir. 2024) underscores the burden faced by employers in defending against whistleblower retaliation claims assessed under the...more
On August 20, 2024, in Ryan LLC v. Federal Trade Commission, No. 3:24-cv-00986-E (N.D. Tex.), the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted summary judgment to the plaintiffs and ordered the...more
On August 14, 2024, in Properties of the Villages, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission, No. 5:24-cv-316-TJC-PRL, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida enjoined the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”)...more
In a motion for reconsideration filed on July 10, 2024, the plaintiffs in Ryan LLC v. Federal Trade Commission, No. 3:24-cv-00986-E (N.D. Tex. Apr. 23, 2024) urged the court to expand the scope of its limited preliminary...more
Earlier today, July 3, 2024, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a preliminary injunction staying enforcement of the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) proposed final rule (“Final Rule”)...more
Maryland Governor Wes Moore has signed into law SB 525/HB 649, which will require employers to include wage ranges in internal and external postings for positions that will be physically performed, at least in part, in the...more
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) voted 3-2 to issue a proposed final rule (“Final Rule”), which, absent a successful legal challenge, will ban most noncompete agreements in the United States.
Despite...more
4/25/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Trade Secrets
The New York State Legislature has approved chapter amendments to New York State’s pay transparency law, which is slated to take effect on September 17, 2023. The most notable revision would provide that the law applies to...more
On January 11, 2023, Elizabeth Wilkins, the FTC’s Director of the Office of Policy Planning, spoke to the Capitol Forum about the FTC’s proposed rule to ban non-compete agreements. This conversation was the most significant...more
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) proposed an expansive new rule which would impose a near-complete ban on the use of noncompetes (the “Proposed Rule”) by employers. The Proposed Rule is the...more
1/6/2023
/ Compliance ,
Enforcement ,
Executive Orders ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Preemption ,
Proposed Rules ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
SCOTUS ,
Shareholders ,
West Virginia v EPA
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) proposed an expansive new rule which would impose a near-complete ban on the use of noncompetes (the “Proposed Rule”) by employers. The Proposed Rule is the...more
New York City’s pay transparency law, which will require most New York City employers to disclose salary ranges in their job postings, takes effect November 1, 2022. As we previously reported, the new law amends the New York...more
On July 9, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order, in which he described the nation’s antitrust laws as the “first line of defense against the monopolization of the American economy” and encouraged the Federal Trade...more
7/6/2022
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Asset Purchase Agreements ,
Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Merger Agreements ,
Monopolization ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
The Clayton Act
On November 17, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held that a company and its CEO violated Rule 21F-17 of the Exchange Act by entering into confidentiality agreements with investors that...more
12/17/2021
/ Confidentiality Agreements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Investment ,
Investment Fraud ,
Investors ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Rule 21F-17 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
On November 17, 2021, the EEOC updated its technical guidance on COVID-19 and anti-discrimination with a new anti-retaliation section. The new section largely restates existing statutory anti-retaliation protections in the...more
On June 23, 2021, the SEC announced that Guggenheim Securities, LLC (“Company”) agreed to settle charges that it violated Rule 21F-17 by including language in its compliance manual and training materials that allegedly...more
On June 21, 2021, OSHA’s much-anticipated Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) on COVID-19 protections went into effect. While Proskauer’s Law and the Workplace blog covered the ETS in detail here, this post focuses on the...more
In Universal Health Services, Inc., 370 N.L.R.B. No. 118 (April 30, 2021), the Board dismissed a complaint alleging that an employer’s bargaining proposals seeking significant concessions violated the duty to bargain in good...more
5/10/2021
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Collective Bargaining ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Discipline ,
Duty to Bargain ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Labor Relations ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Unions