Think it’s OK to agree with other employers not to recruit their employees if they won’t go after yours? Think again.
That kind of arrangement can get you into some legal trouble. Just ask a group of asset and wealth management companies that recently got hammered to the tune of $25.5 million for entering into such an agreement.
The defendants in this case are big players in the asset and wealth management space. In fact, the three groups of defendants – referred to as the Mariner defendants, the American Century defendants and the Tortoise defendants – together manage nearly $305 billion in assets.
In 2008, a senior American Century employee took a job with Mariner and recruited other American Century employees to come with him. After that happened, American Century and Mariner entered into a secret agreement not to recruit or hire each other’s employees.
When the Department of Justice got wind of the agreement, it conducted an antitrust and conspiracy investigation. That investigation ultimately produced a non-prosecution agreement and an agreement by American Century to commit $1.5 million to affected employees.
A private suit filed against the group of asset management giants alleged that between March 2014 and March 2018, the defendants illegally conspired via the agreement to squelch competition by agreeing not to go after each other’s employees.
The problems with the...
Donald Trump's claim that Nato troops avoided the front line in Afghanistan has sparked widespread outrage among veterans and their families. Ben Parkinson, a severely injured British paratroope...