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ARTICLE · 23 AUGUST 2022

Wage-Fixing Settlement Provides Valuable Antitrust- And Privacy-Related Compliance Lessons

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United StatesAntitrust/Competition Law
Gorav Jindal
Gorav Jindal
Natasha Kohne
Natasha Kohne
Michelle Reed
Michelle Reed
Brian Rafkin
Brian Rafkin
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Key Points

  • As part of the antitrust agencies' public commitment to investigate and prosecute competitive harm in labor markets, the DOJ Antitrust Division fined three major U.S. poultry processors and a data consulting company a total of $84.8 million for violating federal antitrust laws by allegedly conspiring to fix employee wages and benefits.
  • According to DOJ's civil complaint, for more than 20 years the poultry processors collaborated secretly in determining compensation and other benefits and—directly with one another and indirectly with the help of a data consultant—exchanged detailed, identifiable, current and forward-looking information about employee wages and benefits. DOJ asserted that both the information exchange and direct collaboration constituted independent violations of the Sherman Act.

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