As we previously reported here on eWn, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved a new rule banning non-compete agreements.
The FTC voted 3-2 in favor of the new rule that will prevent companies from making their employees sign non-compete clauses. The rule apparently protects independent contractors, such as the talents in WWE and AEW.
On a recent edition of the “Busted Open Radio” podcast, Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer reacted to the recent ruling by the FTC.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the FTC’s ruling: “If the FTC’s ruling is final, if this is it, it’s great because now if you stop working on a Monday, you can be gainfully employed within days in the wrestling business. Like a Cameron Grimes for instance, right? If he got let go just yesterday, and all of a sudden, TNA for instance, because he was Trevor Lee there, decided ‘Hey, let’s bring him back immediately. He can be at the next set of TV tapings, or he can be at the next PPV, and we don’t have to worry about this 90-day red tape.’ It’s pretty simple.”
On how WWE still pays wrestlers during the 90-day non-compete period: “You get paid for those 90 days. You also, as a talent, can forgo those 90 days of pay and go work somewhere else. That is an option. When I left WWE, I quit, they still offered me the pay, and I took it. And I quit…So if you wanted to technically…are you going to give up your weekly salary to try to go somewhere else? Or ‘Hey, I can literally sit home for 90 days and get paid.’”
The recently imposed ban is likely to be contested in court. The US Chamber of Commerce has expressed its intention to initiate legal action against the FTC over the ban, arguing that the agency has exceeded its jurisdiction in this matter.
