Ryan, LLC, v. Federal Trade Commission

  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
  • Filed
  • Updated

Case Movement

Case Details

  • Case Status: Ongoing
  • Docket Number: 3:24-cv-00986
  • Category: Workforce and Benefits

Issue

Whether the Federal Trade Commission had the authority to bar widely used non-compete agreements.

May 15, 2024

On May 15, 2024, the Restaurant Law Center, together with representatives from other trade associations, filed a brief in support of the Plaintiff’s Motion to Stay the Effective Date and Preliminary Injunction arguing in part that the Commission premised the Final Rule on a seriously flawed cost-benefit analysis that cherrypicked data to support its pre-set agenda of striking down noncompete agreements, while ignoring well-established evidence of their benefits.

August 20, 2024

On Tuesday, August 20, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted Plaintiffs’ Motions for Summary Judgment in Ryan LLC v. Federal Trade Commission. The Court concluded that the Commission promulgated the Non-Compete Rule in excess of its statutory authority and that the Rule is arbitrary and capricious. Given the Court’s conclusion, it held the rule unlawful and set it aside. The Commission asked the Court to enjoin the rule only as to the Plaintiffs, but the Court reasoned that the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) does not contemplate party-specific relief and set the rule aside nationwide, so the ruling covers all persons in all judicial districts equally.