Thursday, April 22, 2021
The past few years have seen increased scrutiny of practices and agreements (and employers that use them) that are viewed by some as anti-competitive, including no-poach agreements and non-solicitation agreements. The scrutiny is not limited to California regulators and courts, nor is this a matter limited to civil litigation.
In January 2021, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) initiated its first-ever criminal case involving “no-poach” agreements. (
U.S. v. Surgical Care Affiliates LLC et al., 3:21-cr-00011.) The indictment, which follows an investigation conducted by the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, alleges that Surgical Care Affiliates LLC (and its successor entity, Scai Holdings, LLC) entered into agreements with at least two other competing healthcare companies whereby they would not recruit or solicit the other’s senior-level employees. Historically, such agreements were the target of
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UPDATE (4-5-21): The D.C. law is “effective” as of March 21, 2021 but will not be “applicable” until the Fall of 2021.
Here are the details: There has been confusion over when compliance with the new D.C. law will be required. The uncertainty is caused by the presence of both the terms “effective date” and “applicability date” in the new law without explaining their meanings. The “effective date” is the date the bill became law under the terms of the District’s home rule law – a process explained in this article. The new Act became “effective” on March 21, 2021. The “applicability date” is different, however. The Act states in Section 302 that it will not become applicable until “the date of inclusion of its fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan” for the District – a requirement imposed by another D.C. law. Because the financial impact of the new law was not included
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December 24, 2020
On Wednesday, Cigna Corporation and its subsidiary, Express Scripts Inc. filed suit against Arefin Kabir, who was Director of Pharma Strategy and Contracting at Express and is accused of theft of trade secrets and violation of the confidentiality agreements that he signed as an employee of Express. The complaint was filed in the Middle District of Florida.
Express is the pharmacy benefit management subsidiary of Cigna and was formed to provide services such as claims processing, benefit design, drug-utilization review, formulary management, and cost analysis processes for Cigna’s medical, Medicaid, Medicare, and workers compensation insurance programs. The defendant, according to the complaint, signed several Confidentiality, Non-Compete, and Non-Solicitation Agreements over the course of his employment, including upon being initially hired in 2016 as well as an updated agreement in 2020. The plaintiff also explained that Kabir received