On March 19, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released two technical assistance documents focused on educating the public about “unlawful discrimination” related to...more
3/21/2025
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Harassment ,
Retaliation ,
Title VII
On March 5, Do No Harm filed a lawsuit against the American Chemical Society (ACS), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, challenging a scholarship program for undergraduate students from historically underrepresented groups in...more
3/20/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Contract Terms ,
Discrimination ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Nonprofits ,
Public Policy ,
Race Discrimination ,
Scholarships ,
Title VI
Trade secrets, noncompetes, and other restrictive covenants continued to make headlines in 2024. Most notably, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a final rule imposing a near total ban on employee noncompetes that...more
Many parties are rightly concerned about the impact of yesterday’s announcement that nearly all federal funds will be frozen for an indeterminate period. Minutes before it was intended to go into effect today, a federal judge...more
1/29/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Funding ,
Federal Grants ,
First Amendment ,
Furloughs ,
Government Agencies ,
Layoffs ,
OMB ,
Regulatory Freeze ,
Reimbursements ,
Trump Administration
Following his inauguration on January 20, President Trump signed a slew of executive orders, including a handful related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives....more
1/24/2025
/ Affirmative Action ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
OFCCP ,
OMB ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College
On October 7, Jennifer Abruzzo, General Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), issued a memorandum reinforcing her stance that most post-employment noncompete agreements violate Section 7 of the National Labor...more
On August 20, the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas held that the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) final rule banning noncompetes is unlawful and “set aside” the rule. “The Rule shall not be enforced or...more
On July 3, the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a decision and order enjoining the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from enforcing its final rule banning most noncompete agreements....more
On April 23, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 3-2 to publish a final rule with sweeping effect, purporting to bar prospectively and invalidate retroactively most employee noncompete agreements....more
On April 30, the Federal Register announced that the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Non-Compete Clause Rule is scheduled to be published on May 7. The Rule becomes effective 120 days after publication, resulting in an...more
As discussed in our recent alerts, the final rule would bar employers from entering into and enforcing noncompetes with most workers.
ArentFox Schiff’s Trade Secrets, Noncompetes & Employee Mobility Team has been...more
4/30/2024
/ Audits ,
Confidential Information ,
Federal Bans ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Solicitation Agreements ,
Nonprofits ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Trade Secrets
Today, the Federal Trade Commission adopted a final rule purporting to ban noncompete covenants for workers nationwide, which will become effective 120 days after publication in the Federal Register, unless first enjoined in...more
4/24/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
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 ,
U.S. Commerce Department
With 2024 underway, we highlight some of the most pressing legal issues facing employers this year, including increased regulation of noncompetition agreements, new paid family and medical leave laws, a new Overtime Rule, and...more
4/23/2024
/ Cannabis Products ,
Citizenship Status Discrimination ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Medical Leave ,
Misclassification ,
New Rules ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Off-Duty Employees ,
OSHA ,
Over-Time ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Unions
On April 16, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it will hold a special Open Commission Meeting on Tuesday, April 23 at 2:00 p.m. ET, for purposes of voting on its proposed final rule banning noncompete...more
2023 was a banner year for trade secrets, non-competes, and other restrictive covenants. Employee non-competes continued to garner attention at the federal agency level, drawing commentary and action from the Federal Trade...more
3/13/2024
/ Competition ,
Confidential Information ,
Contract Terms ,
Cybersecurity ,
Damages ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employment Contract ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Former Employee ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
New Legislation ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
State Labor Laws ,
Trade Secrets
In June 2023, a federal judge in the Northern District of Illinois denied Aon Corp.’s request for a temporary restraining order against Alliant Insurance Services, Inc. and nine former Aon employees after they allegedly...more
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed a new rule that would ban employers from requiring workers to sign non-competes and require recission of existing non-competes. The FTC’s press release...more
On July 12, 2022, the Council of the District of Columbia voted to amend the District of Columbia’s Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Amendment Act of 2020 (the “Act”). Implementation of the Act has been delayed on several...more
In 2021, trade secrets and non-competes continued to garner attention on the national stage. Non-competes were the focus of significant legislative activity at both the federal and local levels, while trade secrets lead to...more
On January 13, 2022, the Supreme Court reinstituted a stay blocking OSHA's COVID-19 vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard (ETS), which mandated that employers with 100 or more employees require their employees...more
1/17/2022
/ Biden v Missouri ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare Workers ,
National Federation of Independent Business v Department of Labor and OSHA ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On December 17, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued an Opinion lifting the stay of OSHA's emergency temporary standard (ETS) requiring employers with 100 or more employees to implement mandatory...more
12/21/2021
/ Appeals ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
OSH Act ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
On November 12, the Fifth Circuit extended its stay on OSHA’s COVID-19 vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard (ETS), which mandated that employers with 100 or more employees require their employees to get...more
On November 4, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued its long-awaited emergency temporary standard (ETS) mandating that large employers require employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19...more
11/5/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Rules ,
OSHA ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Large employers should soon have specific guidance on complying with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) vaccine and testing mandate. On September 9, President Biden announced that OSHA would issue an...more
In today's episode of the returning to work podcast series, Partner Brian Schneider and Associate Alexandra Romero discuss the following topics:
* Managing and setting policies for remote working
* Partial in-office...more