On September 4, 2025, the FTC announced an enforcement action and proposed settlement with Gateway Pet Memorial Services (the “Company”), a pet cremation company, over the Company’s overuse of post-employment non-competes with certain terms it found concerning.  At nearly the same time, the FTC withdrew its appeals pending in the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits of district court rulings issued last…

On June 5, 2025, the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion authored by Justice Jackson in Ames v. Ohio Dep’t of Youth Services, ruling that the “background circumstances” test—which applies a heighted evidentiary standard to majority group plaintiffs seeking to state a prima facie claim for disparate treatment under Title VII—is inconsistent with Title VII.  The Court vacated…

On April 9, 2025, Kansas Governor Laura Kelley signed into law Senate Bill No. 241 (the “Bill”), which amends the Kansas Restraint of Trade Act (the “Act”) to (a) create presumptions of enforceability for non-solicitation covenants meeting the Act’s requirements, and (b) require reformation of overbroad restrictive covenants.  The Act expressly excludes non-competition covenants from its scope.  K.S.A. § 50-163(d)(6). …

On March 24, 2025, Virginia Governor Glenn Younkin signed into law S.B. 1218, which amended Virginia’s non-compete law to expand the definition of “low-wage employees” with whom employers may not enter into non-competition agreements. 

A “low-wage employee” previously was defined as any employee whose average weekly earnings fell below the Virginia average weekly wage. For 2025, this equated to $1,463 per…

Wyoming just banned most non-compete agreements (Wyo. Stat. § 1-23-108): starting July 1, 2025, most agreements that restrict workers from working in competitive jobs will be void, absent some exceptions for:

• High-Level Employees: Non-compete agreements with “executive and management personnel” and “officers and employees who constitute professional staff to executive and management personnel” will still be enforceable.  However,

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On March 19, 2025, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and the U.S. Department of Justice issued two technical assistance documents discussing how the agencies view and define Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (“DEI”) in the context of workplace discrimination: “What You Should Know About DEI-Related Discrimination at Work” and “What To Do If You Experience Discrimination…

On February 26, 2025, the United States Supreme Court entertained oral argument in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, a case that centered on whether a plaintiff who is a member of a majority group must meet a higher burden—namely, showing supporting “background circumstances”—in establishing a prima facie case of discrimination under Title VII.

Background

Plaintiff Ames, a heterosexual…