#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
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
On April 14, 2025, a federal jury in Nevada convicted a home healthcare nursing executive on one count of conspiracy to fix wages and five counts of wire fraud after a 15-day trial. The verdict represents the DOJ’s first...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
Four days before President Trump took office, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) (together, “the Agencies”) under the Biden administration released their “Antitrust Guidelines for Business...more
On January 16, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued “Antitrust Guidelines for Business Activities Affecting Workers” (2025 Guidelines). The 2025 Guidelines aim to “promote clarity and...more
In the final days of the Biden administration, the FTC and DOJ jointly issued antitrust guidelines on business practices that impact workers that replace the 2016 Antitrust Guidance for Human Resource Professionals, which...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
Under Chair Lina Khan, the Federal Trade Commission elevated its focus on labor markets. It promulgated a rule attempting to ban noncompete agreements, now stayed and subject to litigation. It took action against alleged...more
What the FTC’s investigation of McKinsey means for consultants tasked to compare wages or pricing - On July 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it has issued inquiries to McKinsey & Co. and seven...more
Labor markets have been a focus of antitrust regulators at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) since the Obama administration. Indications are that enforcers will be even more aggressive across...more
Whilst not traditionally a focus of the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”), the UK’s labour markets now form one of the CMA’s strategic priorities, as outlined in its 2023 to 2024 Annual Plan....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
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas recently granted the U.S. Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) motion to dismiss the criminal charges it had previously brought against Surgical Care Affiliates, LLC and...more
The year 2023 will be remembered as a milestone for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC, and, together with the DOJ, the “Agencies”) in their efforts to expand antitrust enforcement to labor...more
Corporates and deal teams should pay careful attention to drafting non-competes and other restrictive arrangements as UK, EU, and US regulators step up enforcement. Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic are placing...more
At this mid-point of 2023, and now several months on from the ABA’s Spring Antitrust conference, there have been several notable developments concerning cartel enforcement, as new leadership settles in at the U.S. Department...more
Department of Justice Withdraws Long-Standing Antitrust Healthcare Policy Statements - On February 2, 2023, the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the withdrawal of its support for three...more
A Ruling and Order issued on April 28, 2023 by the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut in United States v. Patel, et al. ran the government’s losing streak to four failed trials seeking to criminally prosecute...more
In another blow to the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) efforts to criminalize “no-poach” and “wage-fixing” agreements, a federal judge terminated the DOJ’s latest “no-poach” case mid-trial before jury deliberations....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
Labor Market Meets Competition Law - In a labor market where companies are competing to attract and retain talent, the rising shortage of highly-skilled employees, high mobility, and high salary demands in certain market...more
Antitrust practitioners from around the world gathered in Washington, D.C. the week of March 27, 2023, for a series of industry meetings, centered around the American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section’s 71st Annual Spring...more
On March 16, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division (“DOJ Antitrust Division”) announced that a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging a former health care staffing executive of fixing wages for nurses....more
We are pleased to announce that Husch Blackwell has published its inaugural “Legal Insights for Manufacturing” report, which provides a look ahead to 2023 and explores the key trends and issues that will shape the coming year...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