At our annual MoForward event in October 2021, Lisa Phelan
offered practical advice about avoiding U.S. Department of Justice
(DOJ) criminal antitrust enforcement of "no poach"
agreements, predicting the defense industry would soon become a
target. Regrettably, Lisa's prediction has come true.
Enforcement Has Expanded to Defense Contracting
On December 16, 2021, the DOJ announced an indictment charging a
former government contractor employee and five employees of its
suppliers for alleged no poach agreements related to hiring
engineers. Although no companies have been charged yet, the
DOJ's press release indicates its investigation is ongoing, and
the executives' companies are identified as unindicted
co-conspirators. No doubt, there is more to come. Once the DOJ gets
inside a particular industry, it drills down and one investigation
often leads to another.
