New York Attorney General Letitia James, along with a coalition of six attorneys general, announced a settlement to address unfair labor practices at Valvoline LLC, Valvoline Instant Oil Change Franchising Inc., and VGP Holdings LLC. The companies had required hourly employees, including nearly 150 current and former employees in New York, to sign non-competition agreements that restricted them from working in the oil change business within 100 miles of their Valvoline location for one year after leaving the company. Additionally, employees were required to sign non-solicitation agreements preventing them from soliciting current Valvoline employees or customers for one year post-employment.
These agreements significantly limited workers' future employment opportunities. Under the settlement terms, Valvoline will cease requiring such agreements and notify affected current and former employees that these provisions are no longer in effect. Should Valvoline materially violate the settlement terms in any coalition state, the respective Attorney General can seek a $500,000 penalty.
Attorney General James stated, “When major companies threaten employees, they hurt all hardworking New Yorkers and their families. For years, Valvoline took advantage of hourly workers who did not have the negotiating power to challenge these unjust labor agreements. We will not let companies prevent everyday people from earning a fair wage and putting food on the table.”
The investigation into these practices began in 2018 and continued until 2021 when Valvoline stopped using these non-competition agreements. New York law prohibits employers from imposing undue hardship through non-competition agreements which must be reasonably limited regarding time and location.
Valvoline is required to issue notices within 15 days to all current employees and those who left within the past year that these restrictive agreements are voided. This settlement affects 440 current employees and 500 former employees across coalition states, including 80 current and 68 former employees in New York.
The attorneys general of Minnesota, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania joined Attorney General James in this settlement negotiation.
Attorney General James has actively pursued unlawful employment practices over recent years. She ended no-poach agreements among major commercial underwriters like First American and Fidelity; led efforts against occupational heat exposure; secured $328 million from Uber and Lyft for driver reimbursements; among other actions.
This case was managed by Assistant Attorneys General Lawrence Reina and Jessica Agarwal along with Civil Enforcement Section Chief Fiona Kaye of the Labor Bureau under Deputy Bureau Chief Young Lee's supervision. The Labor Bureau operates within the Division for Social Justice led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux and First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.