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Lede: A New York law bans non-compete clauses in broadcast contracts. Doug Cunningham has more.

On the heels of a California State Supreme Court ruling banning employer-imposed non-compete clauses, New York state is banning the clauses by law in broadcast contracts. Governor David Paterson has signed the “Broadcast Employees Freedom To Work Act”. The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists says this law will keep trusted broadcasters, including journalists, in their home towns. The New York State AFL-CIO joined AFTRA in a push to get the new law passed in New York. Creating laws banning these non-compete contract provisions is a priority for AFTRA nationwide. Broadcast employers often impose these clauses on employees to keep them from going on the air at a competing station in the same market – often for a year or more after they leave the original station. Non-compete clauses have already been banned in Washington, D.C., Connecticut, Arizona, Maine, and Massachusetts.