On April 1, 2025, the American Alliance for Equal Rights (“AAER”) filed complaints with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) alleging three tax-exempt private foundations—the Gates Foundation, the Lagrant Foundation and the Creative Capital Foundation—have engaged in racial discrimination by excluding white citizens from benefits and opportunities based on their race. Each complaint requests that the IRS open an investigation into the activities and tax-exempt status of the foundations.… Continue Reading
ATS Withdraws Challenges to the FTC’s Final Non-Compete Rule After the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Denies its Motion to Stay Proceedings
ATS Tree Services, LLC (“ATS”) has voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit it filed in April 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania challenging the Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) Non-Compete Clause Rule (“the Final Rule”), which banned the use of most non-compete clauses in employment contracts.
The dismissal comes after the U.S.… Continue Reading
Next Steps for Employers After FTC Noncompete Rule Enjoined
Summary
What’s next for employers who want to protect their businesses from competition from departing employees, including the loss of customers, employees, and confidential information? With a federal court injunction against the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Final Rule banning noncompetes, the door is open for employers to continue using them. But companies now have time to reflect on the increasing hostility of courts and legislatures towards overly broad restrictive covenants, update their existing agreements, assess which employees ought to be subject to post-employment covenants, and determine how to best protect their trade secrets and confidential information.… Continue Reading
SEC Announces Settlements with Seven Public Companies for Violations of Exchange Act Whistleblower Protections in Employee and Consulting Agreements
The SEC has begun to bring enforcement actions against companies whose employment and client agreements could appear to infringe on the right to report cases in violation of Section 21f-17(a) of the Exchange Act. On September 9, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it settled charges against seven public companies for more than $3 million in combined civil penalties for including language in their employment, consulting and other agreements that potentially discourages whistleblowers from reporting issues to outside authorities.… Continue Reading
Texas Federal Judge Strikes Down FTC Noncompete Ban
On August 20, 2024, Judge Ada Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas vacated the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) final Rule that the FTC enacted to ban noncompete agreements. Judge Brown held that the FTC exceeded its statutory authority and invalidated the Rule on a nationwide basis.… Continue Reading
Texas, Pennsylvania, and Florida District Courts May Reach Different Decisions in FTC Non-Compete Ban Litigation
Updated on August 17, 2024
As we previously reported, here, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a Final Rule on April 23, 2024 that would prevent most employers from enforcing non-compete agreements against workers, effective September 4, 2024 (the “Rule”). As a result of a preliminary injunction entered against the Rule by a Texas federal court, employers are in limbo as to whether the Rule will impact their businesses.… Continue Reading
CMS Ends COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Healthcare Workers
On May 1, 2023, the Biden Administration announced the end of COVID-19 vaccination requirements for federal employees, contractors, CMS-certified facilities, and others, because, “we are now in a different phase of our [COVID-19] response when these measures are no longer necessary.” The federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency ended on May 11, 2023.… Continue Reading
Pregnant and Nursing Workers Benefit from Expanded Employment Protections
On December 29, 2022, as part of the Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Spending Bill, President Biden signed into law two pieces of legislation that will benefit pregnancy and nursing mothers – the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act). … Continue Reading
Board Limits Ability to Prohibit Labor Protests
For the second time in less than a week, the National Labor Relations Board has thrown out a Trump-era standard and reinstated Obama-era rules favorable to labor unions. In Bexar County Performing Arts Center Foundation, 16-CA-193636 (“Bexar County II“), the Board restricted a business owner’s ability to prohibit off-duty contract workers from conducting labor protests on its property.… Continue Reading
NLRB Adds Consequential Damages to Standard Remedy for Unfair Labor Practices
Employers that violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) will have to pay workers additional damages under a recently issued precedential decision from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board).
In Thryv, Inc., the NLRB ruled 3-2 that the Board’s standard remedy for make-whole relief should include consequential damages. The Board now will “expressly order that the respondent compensate affected employees for all direct or foreseeable pecuniary harms suffered as a result of the respondent’s unfair labor practice” to more fully realize the concept of “make-whole relief” under Section 10(c) of the NLRA. … Continue Reading