On April 14, 2025, after a three-week trial, a federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada returned a guilty verdict on all six counts for Eduardo Lopez, a home healthcare staffing executive. Lopez was charged with one count of wage fixing and five counts of wire fraud for concealing the criminal investigation during the sale of his staffing company. The verdict marks the end of the “first wave” of criminal labor market cases brought by the Department of Justice and provides the first labor market conviction obtained at trial. It remains to be seen whether this win serves as a punctuation mark or the beginning of a renewed focus on criminal labor market enforcement.
In U.S. v. Eduardo Lopez, Lopez, the owner of a home healthcare staffing agency, was indicted in March 2023 on one count of conspiracy to fix the wages of nurses who provided home healthcare services, in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1. The conspiracy was alleged to have lasted from March 2016 through May 2019 and involved an agreement among competitor staffing companies to stay within a certain range for hourly rates paid to nurses.
The government superseded its original indictment in September 2023 to add wire fraud charges alleging that Lopez had learned of the criminal investigation in 2019 but concealed it from the buyer of his company when he sold it for over $10 million in 2021.
Practical Takeaways
Antitrust Division head Gail Slater’s quotes in the DOJ’s press release announcing the Lopez verdict reflect a commitment to robust enforcement in this area and no slowdown in bringing labor market cases. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), another enforcer in the civil realm, has also signaled its commitment to enforcement in the labor space. In February 2025, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson issued a memorandum regarding the creation of a labor market task force. This follows the issuance of joint FTC/DOJ guidance on antitrust and labor in January 2025. Taken together, this messaging from both federal antitrust enforcers makes clear that labor will remain a priority during the second Trump administration and should be a compliance priority for all employers in light of the potential criminal exposure.
Labor cases have been an enforcement priority for the DOJ for several years, particularly in the technology and healthcare spaces. But even the most compliance-minded businesspeople may be unaware that entering into understandings or agreements regarding recruiting, solicitation, compensation or hiring with any competitors for employees (a broader set of competitors than just product or service market competitors) may be pursued as antitrust crimes. Implementing an antitrust compliance program, including content directed to HR professionals, has a high “return on investment” with respect to detecting and deterring conduct that could lead to serious consequences.
The Lopez case also underscores the importance of transparency regarding government investigations during a sale process and the value of conducting adequate antitrust due diligence as a seller.
