Last week, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Antitrust Division suffered back-to-back trial defeats in its recent enforcement initiative to use the Sherman Act to stop employers from using allegedly anticompetitive tactics to suppress wages and employee mobility. In the first case, the DOJ’s first ever criminal wage-fixing prosecution ended with not guilty verdicts. In the second case, a national healthcare provider and its former CEO were acquitted on charges involving allegedly illegal “no-poach” agreements.
Continue Reading DOJ Antitrust Division Suffers Back-to-Back Trial Defeats in Wage Fixing and “No Poach” Cases

The Department of Justice recently announced that it had charged one of the largest independent oncology groups in the country, Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute LLC (“FCS”), with antitrust violations under the Sherman Act, an incredibly rare antitrust action against a health care provider and the first in 25 years. The DOJ’s investigation into criminal antitrust violations amongst oncology providers has led to the defendant’s agreement to pay a whopping $100M fine in exchange for the DOJ’s agreement to defer prosecution on the antitrust charges until 2023.
Continue Reading First, Do No Harm: Oncology Group Agrees to $100M Fine Following Criminal Antitrust Investigation

This post originally appeared on the Workplace Class Action blog.

Seyfarth Synopsis: There are currently pending at least four class actions claiming that provisions contained in franchise agreements prohibiting the hiring of employees of other intrabrand franchisees without the consent of their employer violate the antitrust laws.  That being said, in 1993 the Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of a franchisor in a similar “no-hire” case.  It reasoned that due to the control the franchisor exercised over its franchisees, the franchisor and its franchisees were incapable of conspiring in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. While the so-called “single enterprise” defense is potentially available, franchisors should be cognizant that in developing that defense, they may create evidence or admissions that would support a subsequent claim that the franchisors are joint employers of their franchisees’ employees.  In light of the availability of other defenses, franchisor employers should assess whether the joint employer risk is worth accepting in order to pursue the single enterprise defense. 
Continue Reading Franchise “No-Hire” Agreement Class Actions And The Single Enterprise Defense