Justice Nears Antitrust Win in Probe of No-Poaching Agreement (1)

The Justice Department is nearing its first-ever criminal win in a so-called no-poaching case, securing a guilty plea from a health-care staffing provider accused of agreeing not to hire a competitor’s nurses.

Such an accord is a violation of antitrust law. The provider, Ohio-based VDA, filed Sept. 1 a notice of intent to plead guilty in USA v. Hee in the US District Court for the District of Nevada.

The filing follows the DOJ antitrust division’s failure to nab conviction in two other criminal cases it brought against employers for alleged no-poaching and other anti-competitive hiring practices.

In 2016, the ...