WASHINGTON - The Open Markets Institute filed an amicus brief in Villages v. FTC, one of two cases that challenge the FTC’s landmark prohibition on non-compete clauses. 

In Villages v. FTC, a judge for the Middle District of Florida ruled that the FTC’s noncompete ban exceeds the FTC’s authority. The case is currently under appeal.   

The Open Markets brief argues that non-compete agreements or contracts that bind workers to their jobs are an unfair method of competition and that banning these coercive contracts is fully consistent with the FTC Act and FTC historical policymaking. 

“Congressional supporters of the FTC Act wanted to stop unfair competitive practices before firms could obtain and maintain monopolistic market positions. As is clear from the Congressional record, they intended the FTC’s authority to be ‘broad and flexible’ in order to stop unfair competitive practices before they grew into a bigger problem,” the brief reads. 

In 2019, Open Markets spearheaded a petition joined by the AFL-CIO, SEIU, and other labor unions and public interest groups calling on the FTC to enact a regulatory prohibition on non-compete contracts. Led by Open Markets legal director Sandeep Vaheesan, Open Markets and its partners repeatedly and successfully called on the FTC to pass its complete ban on non-compete agreements. 

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