Thread regarding Truist Bank layoffs

That's ok - SunTruist stopped competing after the Feds gave them the ok to merge.

While regulatory agencies, such as the FTC, do not have the legal ability to create “law,” they do have the ability to create rules and regulations under the authority given to each respective agency by congress. The VAST majority of the rules in this country come from such regulatory agencies, not congress. Typically, congress passes a somewhat generic law and then hands if off to a regulatory agency to promulgate rules, allegedly in furtherance of law that congress passed. Federal regulations are published in the Code of Federal Regulations, not the US Code where congressionally enacted laws are published. States, at least those that I am familiar with, use a similar system.

FDIC and CFPB (and numerous other regulatory agencies) rules that are applicable to banks are a prime example, and an example that anyone who works at a bank should be intimately familiar with. Rules and regulations established by non-elected regulatory agencies impact everyone’s life every single day, much more than laws actually passed by a legislative body such as congress. Regardless of your thoughts on this particular ruling from the FTC, the regulatory world is vast, largely unchecked, and subject to the political leanings of the white house and the politically appointed director of the particular federal agency.

When regulatory agencies establish a new rule, they are always subject to allegations that they have exceeded the scope of their congressional authority, as well as other legal challenges. There are typically two ways that a new regulation is challenged. In most cases, it is via private lawsuit alleging that it is beyond the scope of the agency’s congressional authority or otherwise unlawful. The US Chamber of Commerce has already filed a suit against the FTC for the new non-compete rule. I’m sure that other suits have been, or will be, filed too. The second – MUCH rarer – way that federal rules and regulations get overturned is for congressional action that essentially says to the regulatory agency “you don’t have that authority.” It happens sometimes, but since congress can’t agree on what day of the week it is, that is unlikely to happen. If a rule/reg is to be stopped, it is typically through the private civil action/injunction pathway, like what the US Chamber of Commerce is doing now.

So, while it is true that federal agencies can’t pass laws, they can enact rules and regulations that, as a practical matter, have the force of law. At least until a judge issues a ruling that the rule or reg is beyond the scope of the agency’s congressional authority or is otherwise unlawful.

@1fou+1scLKcAI Might do some research on what financial advisors deal with leaving a firm and a non-compete. Not at all what you imagine.

After a long career of dealing with non-competes, my opinion on the matter is this. Their primary “teeth” have always relied more on “fear” than legal reality. What poor employee, now out of a job, wants to take on an entire corporate legal team, regardless of “right” vs “wrong”?

So, while not “banned” (yet), I believe this puts the first nail in the coffin. This breaks the fallacy that “they are legal because our legal department created them and says they are”.

I have spoken with some of the leading employment attorneys, and the vast majority felt if vigorously challenged in court (even in the current environment), employees have a solid advantage. Said simplistically, how can you legally deny someone the right to make a living? Is it not somewhat akin to indentured servitude?

So, outside of the employee doing something illegal (providing proprietary property to their new employer), or big payments to C-suite executives, this ruling WILL impact the courts. More importantly, personal attorneys will smell blood in the water, and be much more likely to take employee’s cases.

They aren’t banned. Get the facts right. FTC lacks the authority to make law. And good luck thinking Congress will do it. Even if they could, it would be tied up in court for YEARS.

https://www.efinancialcareers.com/news/non-compete-ban-banks-hedge-funds

Non solicits seem to be okay thoug