JPMorgan Chase, the largest financial institution on Wall Street, reportedly requires its workers to give six months' notice before being allowed to leave for another job. A JPMorgan employee posted on the social media platform Blind, which allows career professionals anonymity, that the lengthy notice period may result in a new job offer being rescinded. The worker claims to earn around $400,000 annually in total compensation after accumulating 15 years of experience. The post stated that the worker was amenable to staying through the notice period but was worried that the new employer would rescind the offer and not wait for six months. Last year, workers at JPMorgan's India corporate offices reported that the Wall Street giant was raising its notice period to 60 days for vice presidents and below and 90 days for executive directors. Some financial professionals say that it is common for banks and hedge funds to include noncompete clauses in employees' contracts that prohibit them from being hired by a competitor for up to six months. The purpose of the notice period is believed to be to prevent staffing shortages when employees leave. However, it has been criticized as an example of an outdated "handcuff" policy that runs against the trend towards worker empowerment.
And it may do more than just run against current trends. We have reported in the past on the FTC’s increasing attention given to things like non-compete agreements and other employment contract provisions that tend towards the more employee-restrictive end of the management–labor spectrum. Will the FTC be putting JPMorgan in its crosshairs next? We’ll see!
JPMorgan’s Six-Month Notice Rule Is an Old School ‘Handcuff’
JPMorgan Chase ‘requires its tech workers give 6 months’ notice before they quit’
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. will appear in Delaware's Court of Chancery on Tuesday to face shareholders and a pension fund challenging the movie theater operator's attempts to convert its preferred equity units into common stock. A hearing for AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. previously scheduled for Thursday was canceled, with a new one set for Tuesday, where Vice Chancellor Morgan Zurn will discuss "settlement scheduling and logistics." The proposed deal would let AMC move forward with its controversial conversion plan after two months of fast-tracked litigation. The preferred equity units (APE) are fractional units of preferred shares issued in a special dividend to retail investors who previously bailed out the company, but shareholders argue that the vote approving the deal wasn't conducted fairly and sidelines retail investors.
Terminally online folks will remember, in early 2021, a group of retail investors on the social media platform Reddit, specifically on the subreddit r/wallstreetbets, organized a buying spree of shares in the struggling movie theater chain AMC Entertainment (AMC). The group coordinated their purchases through online brokerage platforms such as Robinhood, causing a surge in the stock's price. The phenomenon, dubbed the "Reddit rally" or "meme stock" frenzy, garnered widespread media attention and attracted more investors to join in the buying frenzy. The buying spree caused AMC's stock price to soar, rising by over 2,500% at one point.
This Week in Chancery Court: AMC’s Stock Conversion Fight
Samsung has been ordered to pay more than $303 million to computer-memory firm Netlist by a Texas federal jury for infringing several patents related to data processing. The court determined that Samsung's “memory modules” for high-performance computing infringed all five patents that Netlist had accused Samsung of violating. Netlist had asked for $404 million in damages. Netlist claimed that Samsung took its patented module technology after the two companies had collaborated on another project. Representatives for the companies have not immediately commented on the verdict.
Netlist Inc has claimed that Samsung's memory products specifically used in cloud-computing servers and other data-intensive technology infringe upon the aforementioned. Netlist argues that its technology increases the power efficiency of memory modules and allows users to get useful information from vast amounts of data in a shorter time. However, Samsung countered this by stating that its technology works differently and merely achieves the same result and that, additionally, Netlist's patents are invalid. Allegations have also been made that other companies, including Google and SK Hynix, have violated Netlist's patented technologies related to the handshaking mechanism of various memory chips such as those used in enterprise cloud computing servers. Following the jury's verdict awarding more than $303 million to Netlist, the company's stocks rose by 21%.
Samsung hit with $303 million jury verdict in computer-memory patent lawsuit | Reuters
In an update to the Federal Circuit judge competency story – Judge Pauline Newman, the Federal Circuit's oldest and longest-serving judge, is seeking to have her chief judge's complaint about her fitness to remain on the bench moved to a different circuit. The New Civil Liberties Alliance, which represents Newman, has filed a letter requesting the transfer to a potentially more neutral venue. The internal court battle has raised issues about the process for addressing a judge's alleged physical and mental impairments and lifetime judicial appointments. The complaint was initiated by Chief Judge Kimberly Moore under the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act, questioning Newman's physical and mental ability to remain an active judge. Newman and the NCLA intend to contest the allegations. The group has also asked that Newman be immediately restored to her full capacity as a Federal Circuit judge.
Judge Newman Seeks to Move Fitness Complaint From Fed. Cir. (1)
