The Federal Trade Commission has received backing against a challenge of its new rule banning noncompete clauses, with a labor group, local lawmakers and others urging a Texas federal court not to prevent the rule from taking effect in September.
Supporters of the rule filed several amicus briefs Friday pushing back against a bid to stay the effective date and a bid for a preliminary injunction to prevent the rule’s enforcement lodged by tax preparation company Ryan LLC and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The Texas AFL-CIO, a state labor federation with 240,000 affiliated members, argued in its brief that the union group supports a speedy implementation of the rule because of the damaging effects that noncompete provisions have on Texas workers and because noncompetes undermine “the fundamental right to pursue a vocation of one’s choosing.”
“Working people rarely, if ever, have an opportunity to negotiate over the non-compete provisions in their employment contracts,” the Texas AFL-CIO said Friday. “But these provisions strip them of the right to seek work where they would receive higher pay and better treatment and impede their professional growth and ability to channel their entrepreneurial spirit for the benefit of all of us.”
