Attorney General James Ends Unfair Labor Practices at Major Auto Services Company

July 31, 2024

NEW YORK - New York Attorney General Letitia James and a multistate coalition of six attorneys general today announced a settlement to end unfair labor practices at oil change and auto services company Valvoline LLC, Valvoline Instant Oil Change Franchising Inc., and VGP Holdings LLC (Valvoline). Valvoline required its hourly employees-including nearly 150 current and former employees in New York-to sign non-competition agreements that prohibited them from working in the oil change business at any store within 100 miles of their Valvoline location for one year after leaving Valvoline. Valvoline also required its hourly employees to sign non-solicitation agreements that forbid them from soliciting current Valvoline employees or customers for one year after their employment with Valvoline ended. These unfair agreements placed an undue burden on workers and significantly reduced their future employment opportunities. Under the settlement, Valvoline has stopped requiring workers to sign these agreements and will notify current and former employees who would have been impacted by the agreements that they are no longer in effect. If Valvoline materially violates the terms of the settlement in any of the coalition states, the Attorney General of that state can seek a $500,000 penalty.

"When major companies threaten employees, they hurt all hardworking New Yorkers and their families," said Attorney General James. "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."

Valvoline used a non-competition provision that precluded all hourly Valvoline employees from working for or engaging in the automotive lubricants or quick lube business for one year after leaving the company. This barred workers from seeking employment within the industry at any location within 100 miles of their former Valvoline worksite. Valvoline employees were also prohibited from soliciting, hiring, or employing any Valvoline employee or taking away any Valvoline customers that the employee had a direct or indirect business relationship with for one year after terminating their employment. Hourly employees at Valvoline were required to sign these agreements in order to get their jobs.

The investigation began in 2018, and Valvoline continued using these non-competition agreements until 2021. New York employers are forbidden from requiring non-competition agreements that impose undue hardship on the employee and any non-competition agreements must be reasonably limited with regard to time and location.

By forcing former Valvoline employees to a term of one year and a radius of 100 miles in which they must refrain from working in the industry that they have experience in is unduly burdensome for New York employees, whether they work in the New York City metropolitan area or upstate.

Within 15 days, Valvoline will issue notices to all current employees and all former employees who stopped working at Valvoline within the past year that the non-competition and non-solicitation agreements are no longer in effect. This settlement will benefit 440 current employees and 500 former employees throughout the coalition states, including 80 current and 68 former employees in New York.

Joining Attorney General James in negotiating this settlement were the attorneys general of Minnesota, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.

Attorney General James is committed to rooting out unlawful employment agreements and protecting workers' rights. In the past three years, Attorney General James ended the use of no-poach agreements by the five largest commercial underwriters in the United States, including First American, Fidelity, Old Republic, Stewart, Amtrust, and two of the largest title insurance agencies, First Nationwide and Kensington Vanguard. In February 2024, Attorney General James led a multistate coalition to protect workers from the occupational heat exposure. In November 2023, Attorney General James secured $328 million from Uber and Lyft to pay back to drivers who were cheated by these companies.

This matter was handled by Assistant Attorneys General Lawrence Reina and Jessica Agarwal and Civil Enforcement Section Chief Fiona Kaye of the Labor Bureau, under the supervision of Deputy Bureau Chief Young Lee and Bureau Chief Karen Cacace. The Labor Bureau is part of the Division for Social Justice, which is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux and First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.