No-Poach, No-Solicit Provisions of Corporate Agreements Now Face Criminal Prosecution
The Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice recently announced a settlement of criminal charges against Knorr-Bremse AG and Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp. for having maintained agreements not to compete for each other’s employees, according to Locke Lord.
Authors Stephen P. Murphy and Joseph A. Farside Jr. write that one executive went so far as to state in an email that no-soliciting was a “prudent cause for both companies” and that the companies would “compete in the market.”
In announcing the settlement, an assistant AG noted that the criminal complaint was part of a broader Antitrust Division investigation into agreements not to compete for employees, typically known as no-solicit or no-poach agreements.
