Judge says FTC lacks authority to issue rule banning noncompete agreements

Enlarge / FTC Chair Lina Khan testifies before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on May 15, 2024 in Washington, DC. (credit: Getty Images | Kevin Dietsch)

A US judge ruled against the Federal Trade Commission in a challenge to its rule banning noncompete agreements, saying the FTC lacks “substantive” rulemaking authority.

The preliminary ruling only blocks enforcement of the noncompete ban against the plaintiff and other groups that intervened in the case, but it signals that the judge believes the FTC cannot enforce the rule. The case is in US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, so appeals would be heard in the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit—which is generally regarded as one of the most conservative appeals courts in the country.

In April, the FTC issued a rule that would render the vast majority of current noncompete clauses unenforceable and ban future ones. The agency said that noncompete clauses are “an unfair method of competition and therefore a violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act,” calling them “a widespread and often exploitative practice imposing contractual conditions that prevent workers from taking a new job or starting a new business.”