Raytheon Probe Signals Heightened DOJ Focus on Labor Antitrust

A Justice Department probe into Raytheon Technologies’ allegedly anticompetitive hiring practices portends more of the agency’s criminal enforcement in the labor market, attorneys said.

The move aligns with antitrust attorneys’ anticipation of the Biden administration’s increased focus on companies’ no-poach agreements that limit hiring others’ workers. The DOJ indicated as early as a 2016 guidance that such practices could be subject to criminal enforcement.

Raytheon Technologies Corp., a Waltham, Mass.-based manufacturer of military and aerospace products, revealed in February that it received a grand jury subpoena as part of a DOJ criminal investigation into alleged agreements to limit hiring between ...