In a byline authored by Stephen Fox and Kyle Klein, the FTC is actively enforcing noncompete restrictions through case-by-case action under Section 5, even without a formal rule, meaning regulatory risk remains high.
The authors note that filing a lawsuit to enforce a noncompete can trigger FTC scrutiny, as the agency reviews court filings and may use them to assess broader employment practices.
Stephen and Kyle highlight that the greatest risk comes from broad, blanket noncompetes applied across roles, particularly where employees lack access to sensitive information, while narrower tools like NDAs present lower exposure.
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