Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Joins Justice Department in Amicus Brief Supporting Workers’ Challenge to McDonald’s “No Hire” Franchise Restrictions

Excerpt:  “The brief argues that the antitrust laws protect competition for workers. It also asks the appeals court to hold that a lower court applied the wrong test in a decision that dismissed workers’ allegations that restrictions in McDonald’s franchise agreements banning store owners from hiring workers away from other McDonald’s stores violated U.S. antitrust law. The brief argues that horizontal no-hire restrictions are per se illegal unless the employer can show that the provision is ‘ancillary’ to the franchise agreement itself, which in this case depends on whether the hiring restriction is ‘reasonably necessary’ to a pro-competitive benefit of the franchise agreements.”