As previously reported in our 2024 blog post, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a Final Rule banning non-compete clauses between workers and employers, subject to a few narrow exceptions. The Final Rule which was scheduled to take effect on Sept. 4, 2024, faced numerous court challenges and was ultimately subject to a nationwide injunction issued by Judge Ada Brown in the Northern District of Texas [Ryan, LLC v. FTC (5th Cir.]. The FTC appealed the Aug. 20, 2024, Texas Court decision and the preliminary injunction issued in Properties of the Villages, Inc. v. FTC (11th Cir.). However, on Sept. 4, 2025, after prolonged litigation, the FTC announced that it would drop its pending appeals in both cases. The FTC, however, has far from abandoned its scrutiny of non-compete clauses. While the FTC federal nationwide ban on non-compete clauses is dead, the FTC is addressing non-compete clauses on case-by-case enforcement actions under Section 5 of the FTC Act. This strategy should come as no surprise – this is exactly the approach the FTC indicated it would take following the Texas Court decision.
Operating under the Section 5 enforcement strategy, the FTC pursued an enforcement action against Gateway Pet Memorial Services. The FTC alleged that Gateway’s utilization of non-compete clauses for nearly all employees barring them from working in the pet cremation industry anywhere in the United States for a period of one year after leaving the company was unfair and...
In an extraordinary message to Norway’s prime minister, President Donald Trump linked his pursuit of the self-governing Danish territory of Greenland to his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize. H...