The U.S. Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) latest policy statement aims to dictate the outcome of contract negotiations between franchisors and their franchisees and to limit the potential negative impact on franchisees of...more
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
10/4/2023
/ Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Class Action ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Former Employee ,
Franchise Agreements ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Judgment on the Pleadings ,
McDonalds ,
No-Hire/No-Solicitation Agreements ,
No-Poaching ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Sherman Act ,
Statutory Violations
The Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division recently suffered another setback in its most recent effort to secure criminal convictions for labor-side violations of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. In perhaps the DOJ’s...more
On April 3, the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division (DOJ) filed a complaint against and settlement with Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Activision), alleging the company violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act....more
4/10/2023
/ Activision ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Contract Drafting ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
eSports ,
Final Judgment ,
Salary Caps ,
Sherman Act ,
Tax Liability ,
Video Games ,
Wage Withholding
The Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division recently suffered another setback in its most recent effort to secure criminal convictions for labor-side violations of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. Having finally secured a...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) made another move to protect two of the Biden administration’s priority constituencies: small business and workers. This time, it targeted perceived unreasonable restraints in the franchise...more
Almost two years after indicting Ryan Hee for allegedly conspiring to allocate staffing and fix the wages of nurses, in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. § 1), the government and Mr. Hee have entered into a...more
The Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division recently secured its first criminal conviction for a labor-side violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act after VDA OC LLC (VDA) entered a guilty plea....more
Antitrust in labor markets remains a “hot topic” for government, business, and labor. The antitrust enforcement agencies, consistent with the Biden administration’s “Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American...more
The Biden administration's Department of Justice, Antitrust Division (DOJ) continues a practice largely begun under the Trump administration of intervening in private litigation and requesting permission to file statements of...more
Many recent no-poach agreement antitrust claims have risen within the franchise context, where the alleged agreement was plainly described in the operative franchise agreements. In those cases, the parties fought over what...more
On September 23, the U.S. Senate advanced legislation that puts all businesses at risk of defending antitrust lawsuits across different jurisdictions at the same time. Senate Bill 1787 (S. 1787) — the Antitrust Enforcement...more
Over the past five years, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and civil litigants have rigorously challenged the lawfulness of buy-side restraints of trade, including noncompetes, no-poach, and nonsolicitation agreements, under...more
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania recently affirmed a Superior Court order in Pittsburgh Logistics Systems, Inc. v. Beemac Trucking, LLC et al., No. 31 WAP 2019, finding a no-hire provision between competing, sophisticated...more
Since issuing its 2016 Antitrust Guidance affirming focus on enforcement of fair competition in labor-employment buy-side markets and warning of criminal remedies for those participating in illegal no-poach agreements, the...more
Are franchisees dependent offshoots of their franchisors, or are they standalone businesses capable of independent decision-making?...more
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
On January 11, an en banc panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirmed a trial court’s decision declaring that a no-hire provision in a commercial contract between two businesses was void and unenforceable under...more
1/28/2019
/ Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
First Impression ,
Hiring & Firing ,
No-Hire/No-Solicitation Agreements ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
State and Local Government ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms
Over the last 18 months, no-poach provisions in franchise agreements have drawn considerable attention from academics, state attorneys general, politicians, and the class action plaintiffs’ bar.
Originally published in...more
1/8/2019
/ Class Action ,
Competition ,
Employee Solicitation ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Food Service Workers ,
Franchise Agreements ,
Franchisee ,
Franchises ,
Franchisors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Jimmy John's ,
McDonalds ,
No-Poaching
On December 7, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania granted en banc reargument for the Murray v. American LaFrance case. In September, a 2-1 majority ruled in Murray that registering as a foreign corporation in Pennsylvania...more
In a September 25 decision, a panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, by a 2-1 majority, found that registering as a foreign corporation in Pennsylvania equals consent to the state court’s general personal jurisdiction....more
On July 31, the FTC published its settlement with Therapy Source, LLC; its owner, Sheria Yarbray; and Neeraj Jindal, the former owner of a competing staffing company — Integrity Home Therapy (collectively, the respondents)....more
8/3/2018
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Health Care Providers ,
Home Health Agencies ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Section 5 ,
Settlement ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Wage-Fixing
Two Pennsylvania courts recently issued significant, and contradictory, opinions regarding general jurisdiction over foreign corporations. ...more
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
In a recent decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a franchisee’s claim that the franchisor’s termination decision violated the New Jersey Franchise Practices Act (NJFPA)...more