On August 20, 2024, Judge Brown of the Northern District of Texas blocked the FTC’s Final Rule banning noncompetes. The decision comes just over a month after Judge Brown’s preliminary injunction order, which stayed the rule...more
8/22/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Lack of Authority ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Statutory Authority ,
Texas
United States Attorney General Merrick Garland, giving remarks about the lawsuit, highlighted public criticism over Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s “exorbitant fees and technological failures” and stated that this lawsuit is “what...more
8/7/2024
/ Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Sherman Act ,
State and Local Government ,
State Attorneys General ,
The Clayton Act
In our recent alert, we noted that while a Texas federal court’s decision in Ryan LLC v. FTC to preliminarily enjoin the FTC’s noncompete rule applied only to the parties in the case, there was still potential for a broader...more
On July 3, 2024, Judge Ada Brown in the Northern District of Texas issued her highly anticipated decision in Ryan LLC v. FTC addressing plaintiff Ryan LLC’s motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to stay enforcement of...more
7/9/2024
/ 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”) issued its Final Rule prohibiting non-compete clauses in all agreements between employers and their workers. This controversial ban comes one year and six months after...more
4/25/2024
/ Competition ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
FTC Act ,
Labor Regulations ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Unfair Competition
The new rule makes it more difficult under federal law to classify workers as independent contractors.
The new rule adopts the six-factor economic realities test, rather than the more stringent “ABC” test adopted by...more
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) proposed a new rule banning non-compete agreements. The 218-page notice of proposed rulemaking details the FTC’s position on the value (or lack thereof) of...more
1/6/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Competition ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Independent Contractors ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
U.S. Treasury
On December 14, 2022, in a return to Obama-era precedent, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) toughened the standard an employer must meet to prevent a union from organizing a small group of employees within a larger...more
The United States Supreme Court on Tuesday released its opinion in Carson v. Makin, holding that Maine’s “nonsectarian” requirement for otherwise generally available tuition assistance payments violates the Free Exercise...more
6/28/2022
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Espinoza v Montana Department of Revenue ,
Establishment Clause ,
Free Exercise Clause ,
No Aid Clause ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Religious Schools ,
SCOTUS ,
State Aid ,
Strict Scrutiny Standard ,
Tuition
On January 15, 2022, New York City passed Local Law 32 of 2022, which requires employers in New York City to post the “minimum and maximum salary” for “advertisements” in a “job, promotion or transfer opportunity.” This...more
4/6/2022
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Job Ads ,
Job Applicants ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
Pay Transparency ,
Salaried Employees ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour
On March 3, 2022, President Biden signed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (the “Act”) into law. The Act amends the Federal Arbitration Act to prohibit employers from mandating...more
On December 14, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) updated its COVID-19 Technical Assistance Guidance to address when COVID-19 is a disability within the meaning of the Americans with Disabilities Act...more
On October 25, 2021, as more employers adopt workplace vaccination requirements for their employees, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) updated its guidance concerning requiring COVID-19 vaccinations in...more
10/29/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Exemptions ,
Guidance Update ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Beliefs ,
Religious Exemption ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
On August 23, 2021, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in Hovagimian v. Concert Blue Hill, LLC, that the Massachusetts Tips Act requires that an employer pay service employees any “service charge” listed on an...more
On August 2, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published its final intended use rule (the “Final Rule”). The Final Rule amends FDA’s regulations describing the types of evidence relevant to determining a product’s...more
8/6/2021
/ Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) ,
Final Rules ,
First Amendment ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Intended Use ,
Manufacturers ,
Off-Label Use ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Product Labels ,
Regulatory Oversight
The United States Supreme Court today released its opinion in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., holding that the First Amendment protects most student speech from school disciplinary measures if such speech was not made...more
As colleges and universities know, higher education institutions have a duty to protect the confidentiality of student records, codified in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g. When...more