Class Action Claims Rejected For Plaintiffs In Two Franchise No-Poach Cases

In the fast-developing area of no-poach antitrust law, two courts have recently denied class certification bids for former Jimmy John's and McDonald's employees in their respective no-poach suits alleging that the chains' franchise locations were prohibited from recruiting one another's workers. Plaintiffs in both actions were seeking to certify a nationwide class of former employees, but the judges found that no single nationwide market existed for such fast-food labor, and individual class-member differences were fatal to the class claims.

BACKGROUND ON NO-POACH AND FRANCHISE CLAIMS

No-poach and wage-fixing agreements have become an increasing focus of both government enforcement and private litigation in the United States. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission jointly issued the Antitrust Guidance for Human Resource Professionals (Guidance), which alerted employers to the antitrust risks associated with wage-fixing and