For many of us, summer holidays are over, the kids are back in school, and it is a good time to take stock of languishing items on our to-do lists.  For employers that have restrictive covenant agreements with employees in Georgia, one of those to-do items should be to review the employee non-solicitation provisions in their employment agreements. Earlier this summer, in North American Senior Benefits v. Wimmer, the Georgia Court of Appeals issued a decision that likely will make it substantially more challenging for employers to enforce employee non-solicitation provisions.  That ca ..read more

As we have previously discussed, the National Labor Relations Board’s General Counsel is seeking to invalidate noncompete agreements on the untested legal theory that they violate the National Labor Relations Act. The NLRB recently fired its latest salvo in those efforts to outlaw noncompetes.  On September 1, 2023, the Regional Director of Region 9 of the NLRB, located in Cincinnati, Ohio, issued a Consolidated Complaint against Harper Holdings, LLC d/b/a Juvly Aesthetics (the “Company”), alleging that the Company maintains unlawful noncompete provisions in its offer letters, agreements ..read more

Thomson Reuters Practical Law has released the 2023 update to “Trade Secret Laws: Illinois,” a Q&A guide on trade secrets and confidentiality for private employers in Illinois, co-authored by Peter A. Steinmeyer and David J. Clark, Members of the Firm in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practice. Following is an excerpt: This Q&A addresses the state-specific definition of trade secrets and the legal requirements relating to protecting them. Federal, local, or municipal law may impose additional or different requirements. Download the full Practi ..read more

The New York Knicks made headlines last week when they sued the Toronto Raptors for theft of confidential and proprietary information, including scouting reports, play frequency reports, and other confidential information compiled by the Knicks coaching staff. According to the Complaint, which was filed in the Southern District of New York, former Knicks employee Ikechukwu Azotam illegally procured and disclosed confidential information to employees of the Raptors, including Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković and player development coach Noah Lewis (Azotam, Rajaković, and Lewis were all named ..read more

Now on Spilling Secrets, our podcast series on the future of non-compete and trade secrets law: Most restrictive covenant disputes are resolved out of court. However, what about the restrictive covenant disputes that lead not only to litigation but also to litigation beyond the injunction phase? Our all-star panel of attorneys—Peter A. Steinmeyer, Katherine G. Rigby, A. Millie Warner, and Erik W. Weibust—discuss more. * * * Tune in to Spilling Secrets, a podcast series on the future of trade secrets and non-compete law. Each episode features an all-star pane ..read more

Now on Spilling Secrets, our podcast series on the future of non-compete and trade secrets law: On May 31, 2023, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memo stating her position that non-compete agreements violate the National Labor Relations Act. So, what does this mean for employers? Epstein Becker Green attorneys and Spilling Secrets hosts Peter A. Steinmeyer and Erik W. Weibust are joined by featured guest attorneys Steven M. Swirsky and Erin E. Schaefer to forecast the impact emp ..read more

We wrote previously about how nobody seemed to be talking seriously about the noncompete bill that was passed by both the New York General Assembly and Senate last month. If signed by Governor Hochul, the bill would ban noncompetes without a carveout even in the sale of a business context, which both California and the Federal Trade Commission’s proposed rule include. Fortunately, in the weeks since we wrote that post it appears that people are finally taking notice. Several legal and industry organizations in New York have either submitted or are in the process of drafting letters or otherwis ..read more

As we previously reported, Minnesota will soon become only the fourth state (along with California, Oklahoma and North Dakota) to ban noncompetes.  The state’s new law renders void and unenforceable all covenants not to compete entered by employees or independent contractors on or after July 1, 2023.  The only exceptions are noncompetes in agreements relating to the sale or dissolution of a business.  A “covenant not to compete” is defined in the statute to exclude non-disclosure and non-solicitation provisions, and the law states that no other provisions in an agreement co ..read more

On June 21, 2023, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis issued a report entitled “New data on non-compete contracts and what they mean for workers” that calls into question the assumptions made by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in its recent rulemaking efforts.[1] The report begins by stating what we have been saying for a long time: that “relatively little survey evidence [is] available” about the actual effect of noncompetes on workers. In other words, it is not that there is substantial evidence that noncompetes help workers (although there are studies showing that they can in certain ..read more

Earlier today (June 20, 2023) the New York State Assembly voted in favor of a noncompete ban that was passed by the New York State Senate on June 7.  In previous posts here and here, we have discussed in detail this bill that would ban noncompete agreements in New York State.  The next stop for the bill is the office of Governor Kathy Hochul, who many believe is likely to sign it into law.  Though it may be difficult to believe, New York is on the precipice of becoming the fifth state (after California, North Dakota, Oklahoma and, as of July 1, 2023, Minnesota) to ban noncompete ..read more