AGG Talks: Antitrust and White-Collar Crime Roundup - Inside the World of No-Poach Investigations and Indictments
#WorkforceWednesday: ACA Preventive Coverage Mandate Blocked, Another No-Poach Loss for DOJ, and Employers Prepare for the End of the COVID-19 Emergencies - Employment Law This Week®
Trade Secret / Restrictive Covenant 2022 Year In Review (Fairly Competing, Episode 19)
Class Action | Eleventh Circuit Reinstates No Hire Antitrust Claims Against Burger King
Taking the Pulse, A Health Care and Life Sciences Podcast | Episode 100: Marguerite Willis, Nexsen Pruet Attorney
The Latest on Antitrust Compliance
III-42-The New Overtime Rule and Antitrust Issues With Your Non-Competes
Employment Law This Week®: Employee Mobility
II-31- The Changing 9 to 5 From 1980 to Today
Employment Law This Week®: Criminal Prosecution of Anti-Poaching Agreements, EEOC Publishes 2017 Data, Organizational Changes at NLRB, NYC’s “Cooperative Dialogue” Requirements
II-26 – Superbowl Concerns, Tax Reform/MeToo, Restrictive Covenant Crimes, and Expanded Religious Discrimination Theories
Last month, Judge Jose E. Martinez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida denied the Burger King Defendants’ (“Burger King”) motion to dismiss a putative class action alleging that its “No-Hire”...more
Arrington v. Burger King Worldwide, Inc., No. 1:18-cv-24128 (S.D. Fla. Oct. 5, 2018) – In October 2018, Jarvis Arrington, a former employee at a Burger King franchisee in Illinois, filed a class action complaint against...more
As the deadline for the Minnesota Anti-Poaching Update draws near, franchisors are reminded to update existing franchise agreements pertaining to non-soliciting and no-poaching restrictions....more
The Seventh Circuit recently revived an antitrust challenge to a clause in McDonald’s franchise agreements barring franchises from poaching other franchises’ employees. (See our previous coverage of antitrust challenges to...more
In an important case of first impression that drew amicus participation from the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and the International Franchise Association, the Seventh Circuit reversed a judgment in...more
In Deslandes v. McDonald’s USA LLC, issued August 25, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overturned the dismissal of antitrust claims that challenged no-poach clauses in franchise agreements....more
Reflecting a shifting national landscape on restrictive covenants, the Minnesota Legislature recently adopted legislation that prohibits franchisors from placing certain nonsolicitation and no-poach restrictions in franchise...more
Arrington v. Burger King Worldwide, Inc., No. 20-13561 (11th Cir. Aug. 31, 2022) – In October 2018, a former line cook of a Burger King franchise restaurant in Illinois, filed a class action complaint in the District Court...more
Over the last several years, business-to-business “no-hire” and “no-poach” agreements have come under legal attack, including through enforcement actions by the Federal Trade Commission and criminal prosecutions by the...more
In June 2021, the Supreme Court reaffirmed in NCAA v. Alston that antitrust claims under Section 1 of the Sherman Act “presumptively” call for rule-of-reason analysis and that only the rare case merits “quick look” or per se...more
A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has held that an antitrust challenge to a “hiring restriction [that] prevented” plaintiff employees “from taking a better-paying position with a...more
New Standard Contract Language for Data Transfers Facilitates Lawful Personal Data Transfers to/from EU and U.S. - In response to the EU Court of Justice Schrems II opinion, which declared that the former EU-US Privacy...more
For the past few years, it seems franchisors have been riding a roller coaster when it comes to no-poach clauses in their franchise agreements. While for a time it seemed as though scrutiny for such clauses might be fading,...more
Two Illinois Federal Courts Deny Class Certification in Anti-Poaching Class Actions Against Franchisors - Two federal courts in Illinois have rejected motions to certify classes of employees who worked in franchised...more
Illinois Federal Court Excludes Plaintiffs’ Expert Testimony on Certification Motion in Anti-Poaching Class Action - A federal court in Illinois granted Jimmy John’s motion to exclude expert testimony of a putative class...more
Welcome to The Franchise Memorandum by Lathrop GPM, formerly known as The GPMemorandum. Since December 1997, The GPMemorandum has been presenting summaries of recent legal developments of interest to franchisors and companies...more
Franchise systems, and many licensing arrangements contain anti-poaching provisions. These provisions are being tested under the antitrust laws as being anticompetitive. This article will discuss the benefits and burdens of...more
It’s the holiday season, but franchise lawyers may find little in recent events to celebrate. The challenges just keep on coming! Most recently, we’ve been challenged by California’s AB5 legislation and Dynamex decision,...more
In a recent post, I expressed the view that no-poach clauses in franchise agreements are unlikely to violate the antitrust laws. Recent activity, however, has given me a “maybe yes, maybe no” on my prediction....more
The recent antitrust attacks on no-poach clauses encourage insomnia among franchise lawyers. But is the attack serious or just a flash in the pan, soon to be extinguished? The insomnia began in the tech industry, where...more
No poaching agreements among employers continue to make antitrust news, and employers and their HR professionals need to take note. Whether or not a particular agreement has a valid purpose (such as protecting an employer’s...more
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
Several years ago, state attorneys general began investigating claims of antitrust violations based on franchise agreements that required franchisees not to hire employees of another franchisee. Despite the regular use of...more
To most people, “poaching” is a bad thing, connoting a mix of elephant hunting and mediocre eggs. But in labor and employment—where “poaching” means recruiting away another employer’s talent—antitrust regulators, legislators,...more
Renewed Efforts to End No Poaching Provisions- Franchisors need to review their franchise agreements and take immediate action in response to the recent onslaught of legal action over “naked no poaching” provisions in...more