#WorkforceWednesday: ACA Preventive Coverage Mandate Blocked, Another No-Poach Loss for DOJ, and Employers Prepare for the End of the COVID-19 Emergencies - Employment Law This Week®
Taking the Pulse, A Health Care and Life Sciences Podcast | Episode 100: Marguerite Willis, Nexsen Pruet Attorney
OVERVIEW - In a recent landmark decision, the UK Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA") imposed a fine on sports broadcasting companies for fixing wages paid to freelancers. It is the first time that the CMA has issued...more
On April 14, 2025, a federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada convicted the operator of a home healthcare staffing agency of a criminal violation of the federal antitrust laws. ...more
DOJ scores first victory in criminal antitrust labor market trial - A federal jury convicted a former home healthcare staffing executive in Las Vegas for orchestrating a three-year wage-fixing conspiracy targeting...more
As previously predicted, the new year and change of administration in the U.S. brought a series of notable developments in criminal antitrust enforcement. Recent actions indicate that the new antitrust leadership in the...more
In April 2025, a Nevada federal jury convicted Eduardo Lopez, a home healthcare staffing executive, for fixing the wages of home health nurses. The conviction marks the Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s (DOJ) first...more
On April 14, 2025, a federal jury convicted an executive in a wage-fixing conspiracy under the Sherman Act. This marks the first time, after many tries, that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) has secured a conviction in a...more
A federal jury in Las Vegas has convicted Eduardo "Eddie" Lopez, a former executive of a home healthcare staffing company, on charges of wage-fixing and wire fraud. The conviction marks the first successful jury verdict for...more
On April 14, 2025, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) obtained a high-profile “wage-fixing” conviction under the Sherman Act against a former executive of multiple home health care agencies (“HHAs”). A federal jury convicted...more
On April 14, 2025, after a three-week trial, a federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada returned a guilty verdict on all six counts for Eduardo Lopez, a home healthcare staffing executive. Lopez was...more
In October 2016, the Obama Administration announced that it would criminally prosecute no-poach and wage-fixing agreements among competitors for talent. Starting in December 2020, through the Trump and Biden Administrations,...more
After several unsuccessful attempts to convict a company or individual at trial for wage-fixing or a no-poach agreement, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division has secured its first conviction in a labor market...more
After many attempts, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ or Division) has scored the first guilty verdict on a wage-fixing case. For years, the Division has prosecuted wage-fixing and no-poach agreements with...more
It’s been two years since the Antitrust Division brought its most recent — and only pending — criminal case involving labor markets. The two-year pause may be telling. It could indicate that prosecutors are picking and...more
On February 26, 2025, Andrew N. Ferguson, the newly appointed Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), issued a memorandum outlining the agency’s populist agenda and directing the formation of a “Joint Labor Task Force”...more
Less than a week before the administration change from former President Joe Biden to President Donald Trump, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released new guidance highlighting business...more
When it comes to antitrust criminal enforcement, 2023 will be remembered as the year when the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division redefined and tested the outer boundaries of its authority. This report looks...more
Nearly seven years after first announcing its intent to criminally prosecute employers and individuals for anticompetitive conduct in labor markets, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ or Division) voluntarily...more
Summary - Following a string of unsuccessful prosecutions in the labor space, the DOJ Antitrust Division moved this week to dismiss its last indicted criminal no-poach case, which had been pending against Surgical Care...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division — for the third time in the span of a year — recently failed to convince a jury that alleged agreements to fix or stabilize labor markets should be punished criminally. It...more
At the end of last year, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) secured a guilty plea for wage fixing, resulting in its first criminal conviction with Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter saying: “[t]oday’s guilty plea...more
Updated as of January 31, 2023- The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) proposed a rule (the “Proposed Rule”) that would prohibit companies from imposing post-employment noncompete agreements. If enacted, the Proposed Rule...more
It has been a tumultuous year for the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and its recent no-poach criminal prosecution strategy. No-poach agreements, which are arrangements between companies that place restrictions on the hiring...more
In another example of the Department of Labor (DOJ) pursuing criminal anti-trust cases against employers throughout the country, on October 27th, 2022, VDA OC, LLC (formerly Advantage On Call or AOC), a healthcare staffing...more
After a string of losses by the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (the “Division”) in no-poach and wage fixing litigations, including a wage-fixing antitrust case in the physical therapy industry in April, the...more
Significant amendments to Canada’s Competition Act (Act) were enacted on June 23, 2022, with the passing of the federal government’s 2022 budget implementation legislation. The amendments foreshadow more aggressive...more