Former owner of health care company indicted for wage fixing
Eastern District of Texas
A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Neeraj Jindal, the former owner of a therapist staffing company, for participating in a conspiracy to fix prices by lowering the rates paid to physical therapists and physical therapist assistants in North Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, the Department of Justice announced today. The indictment also charges Jindal with obstruction of the Federal Trade Commission’s separate investigation into this conduct.
According to the two-count indictment filed in the U.S. District Court in Sherman, Texas, Jindal and his co-conspirators agreed to pay lower rates to certain physical therapists and physical therapist assistants, and Jindal’s company paid lower rates, from in or about March 2017 and continuing through in or about August 2017. Jindal is charged with participating in the conspiracy when he was the owner of a Te
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Over the last several years, antitrust prosecutors at the Department of Justice have repeatedly cautioned that anticompetitive agreements affecting labor markets can be the subject of criminal prosecution under the antitrust laws. On December 10, the DOJ announced the first such prosecution against a Texas health care provider.
According to DOJ’s indictment, Neeraj Jindal, the owner of a physical therapy staffing company in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, agreed with co-conspirators to pay lower rates to physical therapists and physical therapist assistants from March 2017 until August 2017. Jindal was also indicted for obstruction of a Federal Trade Commission investigation into the conduct.
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The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently announced its first-ever criminal wage-fixing prosecution. The DOJ likely intends this case to be a wake-up call to companies, executives, and HR professionals, reinforcing that competition laws apply equally to wages paid to employees as they do to prices for goods and services. Companies and individuals should take note of this development, update their trainings and compliance programs as appropriate, and recognize that wage fixing could lead to federal criminal prosecution and even jail time.
The Facts
On December 10, 2020, the DOJ announced that a federal grand jury indicted the former owner of a therapist staffing company for participating in a wage-fixing conspiracy. The indictment alleges that Neeraj Jindal and his co-conspirators agreed to fix prices by lowering rates paid to healthcare workers. For approximately five months in 2017, accord
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In a Busy Year of Health Care Antitrust Enforcement, DOJ’s First Criminal Wage-Fixing Prosecution Targets a Health Care Provider Friday, December 18, 2020
Over the last several years, antitrust prosecutors at the Department of Justice have repeatedly cautioned that anticompetitive agreements affecting labor markets can be the subject of criminal prosecution under the antitrust laws. On December 10, the DOJ announced the first such prosecution against a Texas health care provider.
According to DOJ’s indictment, Neeraj Jindal, the owner of a physical therapy staffing company in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, agreed with co-conspirators to pay lower rates to physical therapists and physical therapist assistants from March 2017 until August 2017. Jindal was also indicted for obstruction of a Federal Trade Commission investigation into the conduct.
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A federal grand jury in Texas indicted the owner of a therapist staffing company on wage-fixing charges on December 9. Although this is the US Department of Justice’s first criminal wage-fixing prosecution, the indictment underscores that enforcement agencies remain focused on policing these types of anticompetitive agreements that restrict competition in labor markets.
For the past few years, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have focused on bringing enforcement actions relating to the anticompetitive effects on employee mobility and labor markets. In 2016, the two federal antitrust enforcement agencies jointly issued Antitrust Guidance for Human Resource Professionals (Guidance), in which they announced an intention to take a “very active” approach to reviewing wage-fixing and no-poach agreements.[1] The Guidance further cautioned that if the DOJ “uncovers a naked wage-fix