After several unsuccessful attempts to convict a company or individual at trial for wage-fixing or a no-poach agreement, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division has secured its first conviction in a labor market criminal trial. On April 14, 2025, a jury found the owner of a home healthcare company, Eduardo Lopez, guilty of agreeing to fix the wages for home healthcare nurses in Las Vegas and for fraudulently failing to disclose the criminal antitrust investigation during the sale of his home healthcare staffing company.1 This marks the first time the Antitrust Division has convicted an individual in a labor market criminal trial and serves as a reminder that labor-related agreements still present a risk to both companies and individuals.
The DOJ first announced that it would prosecute wage-fixing and no-poach agreements criminally in 2016, but the Antitrust Division did not bring any criminal charges for labor-market agreements until early 2021. Although one company eventually pled guilty to wage-fixing and another individual received a deferred prosecution agreement, the Antitrust Division’s attempts to secure a conviction at trial proved to be unsuccessful. Previous jury trials resulted in the defendant companies and individuals being acquitted and one case being dismissed. However, armed with lessons learned from the previous trials, the Antitrust Division has succeeded for the first time in convicting an individual at trial in a criminal labor-market case.
The government’s case was made stronger by the fact that it relied on incriminating text messages and recorded conversations involving Lopez as well as the testimony of a cooperating co-conspirator witness. In one text message to a colleague, Lopez wrote that several competing home healthcare agencies had reached a “mutual agreement” to “stay within the same hourly rate” as each other. The government also presented evidence that Lopez had intentionally concealed the fact of the criminal antitrust investigation during the sale of his home healthcare staffing company for more than $10 million.
The Antitrust Division’s successful prosecution in Lopez underscores the DOJ’s ongoing commitment to prosecuting labor-related agreements criminally. After the verdict, Antitrust Division Assistant Attorney General Abigail A. Slater issued a statement that wage-fixing agreements "are nakedly unlawful attempts at unjustly profiting off American workers." "Today's verdict highlights what should be a clear message with antitrust crimes: the agreement is the crime," Slater said. "The Antitrust Division will zealously prosecute those who seek to unjustly profit off their employees. The nurses here deserved better and, under President Trump's leadership, they will be protected."
The DOJ’s win comes on the heels of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) recent initiative to look for conduct that limits competition in labor markets and harms consumers. In February 2025, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson announced that the FTC will create a “Joint Labor Task Force” to investigate and prosecute specific types of labor-market conduct, including no-poach, non-solicitation or no-hire agreements, and wage-fixing agreements. This, combined with the DOJ’s success in securing a conviction in a labor-market criminal trial, shows that labor-related agreements are still an enforcement priority for both agencies and pose a significant risk for companies and individuals who engage in such conduct.
Companies should ensure that their employment practices comply with the antitrust laws. In particular, companies should familiarize themselves with the DOJ and FTC's joint “Antitrust Guidelines for Business Activities Affecting Workers,” issued in January 2025 and available here. Companies should also review any agreements with other companies regarding hiring practices.
[1] United States v. Lopez, No. 2:23-cr-00055 (D. Nev.).
