AIC Speaks Out at FTC Forum on Proposed Rule to Ban Noncompete Restrictions
Goshorn Jurata: “The broad drafting of the proposed rule will harm competition by reducing incentives for long-term investment in developing businesses.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rebekah Goshorn Jurata, General Counsel for the American Investment Council, delivered the following statement at the Federal Trade Commission’s Forum regarding its proposed rule to ban noncompete restrictions:
“Hello, my name is Rebekah Goshorn Jurata, from the American Investment Council. AIC members provide access to capital, create jobs, strengthen retirement security, drive innovation, and increase economic growth through responsible long-term investment. Our members support competition by investing in local communities and creating wealth for millions of American public sector workers saving for retirement.”
“AIC appreciates the FTC’s efforts to police anticompetitive conduct impacting labor markets. However, we are concerned that the broad drafting of the proposed rule will harm competition by reducing incentives for long-term investment in developing businesses. This will hamper job creation and discourage innovation. Many of the noncompete or ‘de facto noncompete’ clauses it would bar are critical parts of carefully-negotiated agreements between sophisticated actors, including business owners and those working to ensure that American workers and retirees can protect and grow their savings in the ways they demand. Undoing these contractual terms would force our members to violate their existing obligations and create negative consequences the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking does not even contemplate.”
“The contracts we are concerned about are drastically different from the examples of worker exploitation discussed in the proposed rulemaking or highlighted in recent Commission enforcement. We believe the FTC can write a rule that fulfills its goals of protecting workers while allowing our members to abide by their obligations and serve their investors. We look forward to working with you, and will submit a comment in the coming months. Thank you for your time today.”
