A Connecticut court denied a motion to dismiss in a closely watched antitrust class action filed on behalf of eight named plaintiffs alleging that six corporations in the jet propulsion systems industry secretly conspired to restrict competition in the recruitment and hiring of aerospace engineers and other skilled workers. DiCello Levitt partners Greg Asciolla, Robin van der Meulen, and Matt Perez serve as co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs and the proposed class that they seek to represent.
Plaintiffs allege this conspiracy stifled competition, suppressed compensation for aerospace workers, and eliminated new employment opportunities for those employees. Judge Sarala V. Nagala ruled that plaintiffs’ counsel adequately pleaded a plausible horizontal conspiracy among competitors in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, thus allowing the litigation to move forward.
On a separate motion to compel arbitration filed by QuEST, one of the defendants, the Connecticut court agreed with plaintiffs and ruled that the arbitrator (and not the court) decides whether the arbitration can proceed on a class basis, and plaintiffs are not required to start any arbitration within 30 days of the Order. Copies of the decision are available here.