On December 10th, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice announced its first criminal indictment targeting an alleged conspiracy to reduce employee wages. The DOJ charged the former owner of a therapist staffing company with conspiring to reduce pay rates for healthcare worker contractors, but did not charge the company itself. Specifically, the indictment alleges that, for a six-month period in 2017, the defendant and his co-conspirators exchanged non-public information on rates paid to healthcare workers; discussed and agreed to decrease rates paid to healthcare workers; implemented rate decreases in accordance with their agreement; and paid healthcare workers at collusive and noncompetitive rates. The indictment alleges that the defendant’s behavior constitutes a per se violation of the antitrust laws and seeks penalties including fines and potential imprisonment. The indictment also includes an obstruction of justice charge, stemming from allegedly false or misleading information the defendant provided the Federal Trade Commission during the agency’s investigation of the same subject matter.
Continue Reading Antitrust Division Brings First Criminal Wage-Fixing Charge
Steve Fagell
Steve Fagell co-chairs the firm’s white collar defense and investigations practice, and he is widely recognized as one of the nation's leading white collar practitioners.
As a former senior official in the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, Steve represents multinational companies and senior executives in criminal and civil investigations by the Justice Department, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and other U.S. regulators.
Steve is a two-time Law360 "White Collar MVP" winner (in 2023 and 2020), an award that recognizes the most outstanding practitioners in the field each year nationwide. Law360 has highlighted the “big wins,” which include five corporate declinations from DOJ or the SEC in a single year, and “impressive, relatively painless resolutions” that Steve has obtained for “prominent corporate clients." Chambers USA has long ranked him as a leading white collar lawyer in Washington, DC and as a nationwide FCPA expert. Clients have described Steve in Chambers as "the ultimate regulator whisperer," adding that he is "extremely practical and a phenomenal problem solver on some of the thorniest legal issues you can imagine," "extremely good," and "one of the smartest guys around" who "doesn't miss a beat.” Earlier in his career, Global Investigations Review recognized Steve as the top investigations practitioner (45 and under) in the United States, noting that he has an “eminent name for both corporations and individuals on matters of high-stakes civil and criminal enforcement."