Insights

Many businesses have embraced a more aggressive use of non-compete agreements and other post-employment restrictive agreements in recent years. But the broadened use of such agreements has led to increased litigation, and a number of courts are signaling that they are becoming less willing to enforce them.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has been more aggressive about bringing its own lawsuits, as well as supporting private party cases, to enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Some of these suits challenge fairly widespread practices maintained by sophisticated employers. At the same time, “the rules are getting more complex and murky, as EEOC regulations and evolving case law expand the definition of who’s disabled and what kind of conditions have to be accommodated,” says Thomas Gies, a Labor & Employment Group partner at Crowell & Moring.