Non-competes

Apr
25

FTC Ban on Non-Compete Agreements Not Likely to Hold Up

Staffing is a highly competitive business, and non-compete agreements are widely used by employers in the industry. In coming days, there will be a lot of news about the Federal Trade Commission's move to outlaw almost all existing non-compete agreements, defined as any agreement that prevents an employee
2 min read
Apr
14

Double Dipping Employees on the Rise

2 min read
Apr
04

Big Law Recruiter Loses Appeal of $6,391,732 Award to Former Employer

4 min read
Mar
25

Court Denies Acara's Motion to Dismiss System One's Tempnapping Case

Injunction Hearing Scheduled In unusually rapid fashion, U.S. District Court Judge Maryland Horan has denied Acara Solutions' request for dismissal of System One's "tempnapping" lawsuit filed last month in Pennsylvania. The lawsuit (attached below) seeks to prevent Acara from hiring 200 System One workers
1 min read
Mar
11

Healthcare Giants in Heated Texas Noncompete Battle

On November 13, 2023, AMN Healthcare filed a lawsuit (attached below) against Aya Healthcare and Robert Wolf, who before his hire by Aya was a tenured (20 years) senior manager at AMN.
2 min read
Mar
07
Barrett Business Services Lawsuit Alleges Trade Secret Misappropriation

Barrett Business Services Lawsuit Alleges Trade Secret Misappropriation

A lawsuit filed on March 4, 2024, by Barrett Business Services (copy attached below) provides a primer on how to appropriately protect the trade secret status of your client and candidate lists.
3 min read
Feb
21

System One Brings "Tempnapping" Suit Against Acara Solutions

Is this a trend? This sort of thing used to happen more frequently 25 years ago. A client decides to ditch its existing staffing agency and cuts a deal with a competing agency to take over the incumbent agency's workforce. Sometimes the issue was service, but more often
4 min read
Feb
06

The Corporate Transparency Act - Big Brother Arrives

2 min read
Jan
30

Another Shoe Drops in Lawsuit Against Legal Recruiter

Former employer wins attorney's fees - final award now $6,391,732.
2 min read
Jan
24

Hayes Medical Staffing Wins Injunction Against Jobot Hires

But court declines to enforce noncompete agreements.
3 min read
Nov
27

Update on Mass Tempnapping Lawsuit

Last year SLN reported on a rare workforce transfer case in which it is alleged that a Business Development Manager for Surge Staffing left for a competitor, Resolve HR, LLC, and took 36 temps on assignment with her.
1 min read
Nov
13

Allegis Group vs Jobot: the War Continues

3 min read
Oct
12

Staffing Giant Allegis Takes a Hit in Restrictive Covenant Lawsuit

Federal court invalidates non-solicitation and non-disclosure contract provisions in proxy war with Jobot I have litigated or managed as in-house counsel over 100 noncompete/trade secret lawsuits involving staffing firms, and the area is of particular interest to me. Last year, I reported on a legal battle being waged by
8 min read
Sep
05

National Staffing Solutions Sues Former Employee Under Computer Fraud Statute

Lawsuit alleges former nurse recruiter stole candidate database after loading computer sharing software National Staffing Solutions has filed an unusual data theft lawsuit in Florida (Complaint attached). While data theft cases are not uncommon, it is rare to see one that seems to fit the requirements for relief under the
2 min read
Aug
16

BIOPOINT VS CATAPULT SOLUTIONS GROUP: NONCOMPETE CASE OF THE YEAR

Inside job yields a $5,061,444 damage award - ruling pending on $2,503,457 attorneys' fee claim I see a big one like this every couple of years. The largest damage awards in unfair competition cases usually involve some form of trade secret misappropriation, and this one
3 min read
Jul
27

Update on Massive Non-Compete Damage Award

Last year I wrote a story about a huge damage award in a staffing firm noncompete case. Specifically, on September 15, 2022, a Texas Federal Judge ruled that international legal search recruiter Evan P. Jowers is liable to his former employer for misappropriating trade secrets and violating his non-competition agreement.
2 min read
Jun
07

Minnesota Bans Non-Competes, Part 2

Don't forget contracts of temporary workers and independent contractors (and employee handbooks) As I reported in my last post, Minnesota has banned non-compete agreements prospectively, effective July 1, 2023. This means that agreements signed on or after that date must not contain provisions that prevent employees and independent
2 min read
Jun
02

Minnesota Bans Non-Competes

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz just signed a law banning noncompete agreements in the state. Unlike restrictions in some other states, the ban is not limited in scope to certain wage groups or occupations. It is universal, the only exception applying to business owners when the business is sold.
1 min read
May
08

Hayes Medical Staffing Sues Jobot and Former Employees

Hayes Medical Staffing has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against former employees Amy Eichelberg, Allison Patierno, and Scott Simon, as well as their new employer, Jobot LLC. The complaint (attached below) contains claims for breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets,
2 min read
Apr
27

Noncompete Update

2 min read
Jan
10

The Federal Trade Commission’s Proposed Non-Compete Ban and the Staffing Industry

By Bill Josey, Editor, Staffing Legal News - 11 Jan 2023 Background On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission published a proposed regulation flatly banning all employee noncompete agreements, defined as any agreement that expressly or functionally “prevents the worker from seeking or accepting employment with a person, or
3 min read
Dec
13

Another Tempnapping in Progress

In October I wrote about a temp transfer case in Ohio in which Surge Staffing alleged that a former employee, working with a competitor, pulled off a switch of 10 temps on assignment to the competitor's payroll, presumably with the client's cooperation.
3 min read
Oct
13

MWK v. Jowers Update: More Action as Predicted

2 min read
Sep
26

Recruiting Agency Awarded $3,640,132.60 in Lawsuit Against Former Employee

Non-compete case provides insights into Big Law recruiting.
2 min read
Sep
20

Aerotek Trademark Suit Against Jobot Just the Tip of the Iceberg

Lawsuit appears to be just one front in a larger battle between the staffing giant and upstart Jobot.
4 min read
Sep
17

Mass Tempnapping In Progress!

Lawsuit alleges former Branch Manager flipped 36 temps on assignment to her new employer.
2 min read
Sep
16

Barrett Business Systems Sues Two Competing Former Employees and Their Wives

On September 15, 2022, Seattle-based Barrett Business Systems launched an unfair competition suit in Washington state against two former employees, Charles Colmenero and Santiago Alejo. The complaint alleges that the former Area Manager and Recruiter "established a competing business, Repsel Associates, Inc. dba Personna Employer Services while working for
1 min read