“What, the FTC non-compete ban lawsuit is on hold?!”
Yes! Well, kind of. I break it down in the full video, but in case it’s Friday and “this video could be an email…”
TL;DR - There have been 3 lawsuits filed in federal court challenging the FTC non-compete ban: 2 in Texas and 1 in Pennsylvania.
Wait, 2 in Texas? Isn’t that duplicative? Basically what the Court said, in a lot more words.
Business groups will be interested to know that the case just put on pause is the US Chamber of Commerce’s suit, which was being decided by Judge J. Campbell Barker, a Trump-appointee who has quickly developed a track record of halting Biden-agency rules. And in this FTC case, he already had a scheduling order and everything (for a now-historical documentary, you can scroll through some posts and see the 10 minute video I recorded last weekend on it).
But, Judge Barker said that since the other case (by tax advisory firm Ryan LLC) was technically filed first and is very similar, that suit should proceed, and the Chamber (and the 3 other business groups part of that suit) can go join the Ryan suit if they’d like.
What does that mean? Probably most notably, no more Judge Barker deciding this. But in the Ryan LLC suit, it’s also being heard by a Trump-appointed judge, Judge Ada Brown (a fellow Emory Law School alum!). That’s probably not the most welcome news for the FTC, who’s really hoping that the rule takes effect September 4 as scheduled.
In terms of timing (aka when will we know if the rule will take effect in September), Ryan LLC has asked for a quick briefing schedule, including that a decision on a temporary injunction come by July 3 (the FTC does not agree that’s necessary).
So, July 3rd could be a big day. But as we like to say on the “HR Besties” podcast, more to come (like, what’s going to happen in the Pennsylvania lawsuit?).
#ftc #noncompete #noncompeteban #employmentlaw #noncompetes #legalupdate
