A recent report released by the Economic Policy Institute (“EPI”) is arguing in favor of prohibiting noncompete agreements after concluding that the increasing use of noncompete agreements may be contributing to rising wage inequality, stagnant wages, and decreasing job mobility. Relying on data from a national survey of private-sector businesses,

“Blue penciling” refers to the convention whereby a court may exercise its discretion to modify parts of a contract that violate public policy, and which are, therefore, void.  In the employment context, the questions whether, when and how much blue penciling is warranted come up most frequently when courts are asked to enforce restrictive covenants such as noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements.    A decision last year in the Colorado Court of

Decided almost a half century ago, Reed, Roberts Assoc. v Strauman, 40 N.Y.2d 303 (N.Y. 1976), remains a pillar of New York case law when determining if a non-compete is enforceable. With this decision, New York State’s highest court established a framework for determining whether a non-compete (or any other

The “choice of law” in a non-compete dispute can impact the outcome of the case.  New York, Massachusetts, and California, for example, have highly developed laws that favor employee mobility.  Other states might be more inclined to enforce a non-compete agreement according to its terms.  Therefore the question of which

Non-compete agreements have the attention of congress.  A bipartisan effort to regulate non-compete agreements on a federal level was introduced in the U.S. Senate in October 2019 by Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.). Senate Bill 2614, the Workforce Mobility Act of 2019, proposes a near federal ban of all employee non-compete agreements, with limited exceptions

A trade secret is, essentially, information of commercial value that is kept secret by those who have an interest in protecting and benefitting from its value. The attribute of secrecy is fundamental to whether certain information qualifies as a trade secret.  Unless the entity possessing the information makes a reasonable

Recently, an Indiana federal district court tackled the issue of whether a former employee’s change in employment announcement to clients constitutes solicitation. In Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P. v. Kerr, No. 1:19-cv-03810-SEB-DML (S.D. Ind., Nov. 14, 2019), the court concluded the announcement was not a solicitation and, for those looking to enforce or defend

Pregnancy Discrimination at Work My name is Robert Ottinger and I’m an employment lawyer. For 20 years I’ve been helping employees and we have offices in New York and California. Trying to work while pregnant or as a new mother has never been harder. There’s a misconception in America that

My name is Robert Ottinger and I’m an employment lawyer. My law firm, The Ottinger Firm has been helping employees for over 20 years and we have offices in New York and California. Have you ever had to take time off of work to care for or a sick parent or a