Judge Strikes Down FTC Ban on Noncompete Agreements

A federal judge ruled against a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ban on noncompete agreements, set to go into effect next month, saying that the rule was “unreasonably overbroad without a reasonable explanation.” A noncompete agreement is an employment contract stating that workers must not compete with their employer after their job contracts end, such as by working for a competitor or in a specific market. The FTC estimates that roughly 20 percent of U.S. workers, or around 30 million individuals, have signed such agreements. In April, the agency voted to adopt a near-total ban on noncompete provisions in employment contracts. It issued a final rule, calling such agreements an “unfair method of competition.”...