FTC Finds Three Firms Engaged in Illegal Noncompete Agreements (1)

The Federal Trade Commission found that Prudential Security, O-I Glass Inc., and Ardagh Group SA engaged their workers to strike allegedly illegal noncompete agreements, marking the first time the antitrust regulator ordered companies to refrain from such deals.

“The commission finds that the use of noncompetes by these firms constituted an unfair method of competition and violated Section 5 of the FTC Act,” the agency said Wednesday in a statement.

Labor groups have long called on the FTC to enforce against—and prohibit—noncompete agreements, concerned that they hurt wages and reduce worker mobility.

Wednesday’s action is the latest in a series ...