On July 15, 2021, the United States Department of Justice announced a “no-poach” criminal indictment against DaVita, Inc. (“DaVita”) and a former CEO, Kent Thiry. Shortly after the announcement of the indictment, a former senior DaVita employee sued the dialysis provider, as well as its two largest out-patient competitors, alleging that these companies conspired not to recruit one another’s senior level employees.
DaVita owns and operates outpatient dialysis centers across the country. The indictment is the result of an ongoing investigation by the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division into employee allocation agreements in the health care industry.
The alleged no-poach activities consisted of anti-competitive agreements among health care companies not to recruit one another’s senior level employees. The conspiring companies agreed not to hire or recruit each other’s employees unless the worker first informed their current employer. The conspiracy was used to restrict the senior employees’ mobility and compensation to the benefit of the conspirators at the expense of the senior employees. The alleged conspirators in addition to DaVita are Surgical Care Affiliates, LLC, SCAI Holdings, LLC, United Health Group, Inc. and Tenet Healthcare Corporation.
If you were a senior level employee with DaVita between May 1, 2010 and June 30, 2019 you may have suffered economic harm and be eligible for compensation. If you would like to speak with an attorney at Edelson Lechtzin LLP for a free initial consultation, please complete the form below or call toll free at 844-696-7492.