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
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
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
Agreements among companies to not hire each other’s workers are more risky than ever. The DOJ’s Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division, Makan Delrahim, stated on January 19 that the division has criminal cases...more
4/5/2018
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Franchise Agreements ,
Franchises ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Joint Venture ,
Legislative Agendas ,
No-Poaching ,
Proposed Legislation
An Illinois federal judge recently found that a franchisor has the absolute right to control its franchisees’ advertising of the products and services offered under a franchise. Lokhandwala v. KFC Corp., No. 17-cv-6394 (N.D....more
2/1/2018
/ Advertising ,
Breach of Contract ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Franchise Agreements ,
Franchises ,
Franchisors ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Islamic-Compliant ,
Promissory Estoppel ,
Trademarks