Washington, DC -- The following is a statement from Sandeep Vaheesan, Legal Director of Open Markets Institute, in regards to nineteen state attorneys general writing to the FTC to urge it to ban non-compete clauses: 

"As these nineteen state attorneys general rightly point out, corporate employers use non-competes to rob workers of the right to leave for more rewarding opportunities and escape abusive work environments. Banning non-competes is essential for controlling employer power and giving workers freedom in the labor market. We applaud the nineteen attorneys general for endorsing our petition for FTC rulemaking on non-competes. We reaffirm our call for an FTC rule that bans non-competes for all workers, not just a subset of the labor force." 

For more information:

Open Markets Applauds Introduction of Bipartisan Bill Banning Non-Compete Clauses in U.S.
Open Markets, AFL-CIO, SEIU, and Over 60 Signatories Demand the FTC Ban Worker Non-Compete Clauses
Sally Hubbard and Sandeep Vaheesan on USA Today: Noncompete clauses trap #MeToo victims in abusive workplaces. The FTC should ban them.

Press Contact: Stella Roque at Open Markets Institute, roque@openmarketsinstitute.org