Benjamin Dryden Discusses the Memorandum of Understanding Between the FTC and NLRB

Foley & Lardner LLP Partner Benjamin Dryden was quoted in the Bloomberg Law article, “Labor Violations to Receive New Merger Scrutiny Via Agency Pact,” discussing what companies might see as a result of the recent memorandum of understanding between the National Labor Relations Board and Federal Trade Commission.

The article reports that companies could face greater government scrutiny on their workforce practices as federal labor and antitrust regulators team up to cover enforcement blind spots and collaborate on staff training, information sharing, and outreach and communication.

Dryden stated that the agencies’ agreement goes beyond information sharing when it comes to enforcement, and that it can address agency blind spots to certain types of illegal conduct. “It’s very easy for a trained antitrust lawyer to recognize per se illegal price fixing in documents, but it’s different for them to recognize union busting in a document,” he said. “This is a mechanism for agencies to exchange evidence, but it also creates a platform for NLRB staff to educate FTC staff on what labor laws entail.”