COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) – A woman has filed a suit against several contractors over allegations they unlawfully restrained competition in the market for skilled professionals at an analytic center in England.
Sarah J. Hunter, on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated, filed a complaint on Feb. 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division against Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp., Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., Mission Essential Personnel LLC, et al. over alleged violation of the Section 1 of the Sherman Act.
According to the complaint, Hunter was employed by Mission Essential from 2015 to 2018 as a skilled professional working at the Joint Intelligence Operations Center Europe Analytic Center in England. The defendants perform intelligence work, the suit states, under contracts with the federal government.
"After initially competing with one another for skilled labor, defendants agreed not to hire one another’s employees. This was an abrupt change from defendants’ prior practice, when they freely pursued skilled workers employed by the other defendants," the suit states. "...Defendants entered into agreements to eliminate competition among them for skilled labor. The purpose and effect of these agreements was to fix and suppress employee compensation, and to impose unlawful restrictions on employee mobility. Defendants’ conspiracy and agreements restrained trade and are per se unlawful under federal and Ohio law."
As a result, plaintiff and class members allegedly were prevented from seeking better-paid employment opportunities with other defendants at JAC Molesworth, the suit states.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment for damages, recover pre- and post-judgment interest, costs of suit, and such other and further relief as the is just and proper under the circumstances. She is represented by Shawn K. Judge, Mark H. Troutman and Gregory M. Travallo of Isaac Wiles Burkholder & Teetor LLC in Columbus, Ohio.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division case number 2:19-cv-00411-GCS-CMV