Defense Contractor “No-Poach” Litigation

The Joseph Saveri Law Firm, LLP filed an antitrust class action in 2019 alleging that defendants Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., Mission Essential Personnel, LLC, CACI International Inc., CACI Technologies LLC, and CACI Technologies Inc. agreed not to hire one another’s skilled professionals working at the Joint Intelligence Operations Center Europe Analytic Center, located in Molesworth, England (JAC Molesworth). The suit is pending in United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division.

Plaintiffs represent a class of current and former employees of defendants who worked at JAC Molesworth between January 1, 2015, and June 30, 2022. Plaintiffs allege these defendants' illegal agreements suppressed compensation for skilled professionals working at JAC Molesworth, in violation of United States antitrust law. The firm and co-counsel Gibbs Law Group LLP seek damages and injunctive relief.

Defendants have been the only non-military employers conducting military intelligence work at JAC Molesworth under contracts with the Department of Defense since at least 2013. After initially competing with one another for skilled labor, defendants allegedly agreed not to hire one another’s employees. Due to a lack of other market participants, defendants’ alleged unlawful agreements eliminated all competition in the market for skilled labor at JAC Molesworth. The agreements had the purpose and effect of fixing and suppressing employee compensation, and imposing unlawful restrictions on employee mobility.

Defendants’ alleged conspiracy and agreements restrained trade and are per se unlawful under federal law. Plaintiffs demand a jury trial and seek injunctive relief and damages for violations of Section 1 of the Sherman Act.

Defendants’ motion to dismiss was denied in November 2019. After more than three years of intensive litigation, plaintiffs reached settlement agreements with CACI in September 2021 and with Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. and Mission Essential Personnel, LLC, in September 2022 worth up to $5.275 million. On December 19, 2022, the Court granted preliminary approval of the settlement agreements, certified the settlement class, and appointed the firm and Gibbs Law Group LLP as Settlement Class Counsel. On January 9, 2023, the Court issued an additional preliminary approval order, which commenced the Notice Period. On May 2, 2023, The Court granted final approval of the settlement agreements.

Further information is available at the case's settlement website: https://molesworthemployeesettlement.com.