General Dynamics to Face No-Poach Suit Revived by Fourth Circuit

General Dynamics Corp. and other shipbuilders must face a suit alleging they wouldn’t recruit employees from one another in a “no poach” agreement, after the Fourth Circuit reversed a lower court’s dismissal Friday.

In a 2-1 opinion, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit said that the “fraudulent concealment” doctrine is designed to prevent conspirators accused of trying to avoid detection from using the four-year statute of limitations. The decision highlighted a slim divide over which standard should be applied.

The former-employee plaintiffs alleged General Dynamics and the others had “a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ not to recruit each other’s ...