Trial Setbacks Are Unlikely To Deter The Antitrust Division From Aggressively Pursuing Labor Cases

Last week, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division suffered two trial setbacks in its efforts to bring cases involving alleged anticompetitive conduct in labor markets. Despite these losses, we expect the Division to continue to pursue similar cases.

On April 14, the Antitrust Division lost its first-ever criminal wage-fixing trial¹. The case charged two Texans operating a therapist staffing company of conspiring to lower rates paid to physical therapists. A Texas jury acquitted the defendants, Neeraj Jindal and John Rodgers, of all conspiracy charges, although Jindal was convicted of obstructing a Federal Trade Commission investigation.

On April 15, a federal jury in Colorado acquitted DaVita Inc., a provider of dialyses and related services, and its former CEO, Kent Thiry, on three counts of conspiracy to limit competition in the hiring of certain employees². The indictment charged that the defendants had entered into no-poach agreements with several