News & Analysis as of May 16, 2025

Antitrust Provisions

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Antitrust Guidelines for Worker-Related Business Practices: How to Stay on the Right Side of Antitrust Hiring Laws During the...

McCarter & English, LLP on 2/11/2025

The Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (together, the Agencies) issued Antitrust Guidelines for Business Activities Affecting Workers (2025 Guidelines) in January. The 2025...more

Balancing Act: Navigating Nuances in Labor Market Enforcement

WilmerHale on 7/8/2024

In recent years, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) have significantly ramped up enforcement efforts in labor markets. This article delves into two key enforcement...more

Federal and State Authorities Bring Antitrust Enforcement to the Contingent Workforce Sector

Littler on 1/4/2024

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and now state attorneys general, have set their sights on staffing companies in their evolving efforts to examine labor markets through an antitrust lens....more

Seventh Circuit Revives McDonald's Employee No-Poach Litigation

Troutman Pepper Locke on 10/4/2023

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

Seventh Circuit Rescues McDonald’s Workers’ Challenge to No-Poach Clause

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP on 9/18/2023

The Seventh Circuit recently revived an antitrust challenge to a clause in McDonald’s franchise agreements barring franchises from poaching other franchises’ employees. (See our previous coverage of antitrust challenges to...more

Seventh Circuit Rejects Dismissal of Franchisee No-Poach Clause Challenge

Quarles & Brady LLP on 9/5/2023

In Deslandes v. McDonald’s USA LLC, issued August 25, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overturned the dismissal of antitrust claims that challenged no-poach clauses in franchise agreements....more

Eleventh Circuit Revives Putative Class Action Against Burger King for Violation of Federal Antitrust Laws Based on No-Poaching...

Bilzin Sumberg on 11/14/2022

Arrington v. Burger King Worldwide, Inc., No. 20-13561 (11th Cir. Aug. 31, 2022) – In October 2018, a former line cook of a Burger King franchise restaurant in Illinois, filed a class action complaint in the District Court...more

Antitrust Challenge to McDonald’s No-Poach Restriction Evaluated Under the Rule of Reason

Perkins Coie on 7/6/2022

A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has held that an antitrust challenge to a “hiring restriction [that] prevented” plaintiff employees “from taking a better-paying position with a...more

Employee Talent Wars Gain Unprecedented Ammunition from Changing Antitrust Landscape

Holland & Knight LLP on 6/16/2022

The current labor market is fraught with challenges for employers. In the wake of the COVID-19 market disruptions, the demand for employees, especially for experienced or highly trained employees, far exceeds the supply....more

Limiting Antitrust Exposure in the Employment Setting

Robinson & Cole LLP on 6/1/2022

In what has commonly been referred to as the “Great Resignation,” nearly 50 million people voluntarily resigned from their jobs in 2021. The majority of those resigning sought a higher paying or better opportunity with...more

[Webinar] Consequences of No-Poach Agreements: Civil and Criminal - May 24th, 10:00 am - 11:00 am PT

CDF Labor Law LLP on 5/11/2022

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

Antitrust Regulation And The Labor Market

Womble Bond Dickinson on 9/24/2021

Employment-related antitrust regulation is intensifying amid a volatile labor market so Mark Henriques asked David Hamilton and Sarah Motley Stone, two of Womble Bond Dickinson's brightest minds on this subject, to share some...more

Prominent Services Contractors Ensnared in No-Poach Class Action

Vinson & Elkins LLP on 9/23/2021

For many federal government contractors, their skilled and experienced workforce may be their most valuable asset. A recent “ice breaker” settlement of a class action lawsuit, however, demonstrates the wrong way to protect...more

No-Poach Franchise Case Dismissed Under Single-Entity Rule

Troutman Pepper Locke on 4/29/2020

Are franchisees dependent offshoots of their franchisors, or are they standalone businesses capable of independent decision-making?...more

DOJ And FTC Warn Employers That Antitrust Laws Still Apply Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Troutman Pepper Locke on 4/15/2020

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

As Treatment of No-Poach Agreements Evolves, DOJ To Examine Antitrust in Labor Markets

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP on 8/20/2019

Antitrust treatment of no-poach agreements continues to evolve as private cases progress, state attorneys general ramp up enforcement efforts and federal regulators further contemplate the legality of no-poach agreements....more

No-Poach Provision: The Latest Cause Of Worry To Franchise Systems

Fox Rothschild LLP on 7/16/2019

The recent antitrust attacks on no-poach clauses encourage insomnia among franchise lawyers. But is the attack serious or just a flash in the pan, soon to be extinguished? The insomnia began in the tech industry, where...more

DOJ Publishes Statements Clarifying Its Analysis of No-Poach Agreements – But Questions Remain

Orrick - Antitrust Watch on 6/17/2019

Since issuing the DOJ/FTC Antitrust Guidance for Human Resource Professionals in 2016, the DOJ Antitrust Division has remained active in enforcing and commenting on agreements among employers not to compete for hiring...more

DOJ Wades Deeper Into No-Poach Advocacy

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP on 3/19/2019

In early February 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its intent to file statements of interest in multiple ongoing private lawsuits to clarify how “no-poach” agreements should be evaluated under the federal...more

III-42-The New Overtime Rule and Antitrust Issues With Your Non-Competes

Cozen O'Connor on 3/18/2019

This episode outlines the key components of the U.S. Department of Labor’s new proposed overtime rule. Also, antitrust attorney David Reichenberg joins to discuss the antitrust issues that cannot be ignored when looking at...more

Human Resources and Criminal Antitrust Prosecutions

The Volkov Law Group on 11/8/2018

As companies seek to attract talented employees in a competitive market, Human Resource officers have to be aware of and avoid serious potential antitrust risks. The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division has put everyone...more

Employers, Beware: DOJ, FTC Mean Business With Enhanced Antitrust Enforcement Efforts

Ballard Spahr LLP on 10/31/2018

Employers should assess whether their employment practices— including benchmarking, recruitment, and the sharing of information about employee compensation—comply with antitrust law requirements in the face of increased...more

State Attorneys General Step Up Antitrust Probes Of Franchise Industry Hiring Practices

Jackson Lewis P.C. on 8/22/2018

In the midst of a federal effort to ramp up antitrust prosecutions of companies agreeing not to recruit or hire each other’s employees special scrutiny – and criticism – has been directed toward the use of no-poach agreements...more

Employee ‘No Poaching’ Agreements Meet the Antitrust Laws: Protection of Employees in the New Economy

Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP on 7/19/2018

For centuries employers have maintained a strong interest in trying to protect their most valuable asset, their key employees, from solicitation by and loss to other employers, especially competitors. As a result, “no...more

Fast-Food Chains Agree to End Franchise No-Poach Restrictions

Troutman Pepper Locke on 7/16/2018

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

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