Illinois Temp Agencies, Client Sued by State for No-Poach Deals

Six temporary staffing agencies and a client colluded to strike a “no-poach” agreements to avoid hiring each other’s employees in order to suppress wages, the Illinois attorney general alleged in a complaint.

The agreements, facilitated by the agencies’ common client Vee Pak, a health and beauty product manufacturer, are a per se violation of the Illinois Antitrust Act, the complaint in Cook County Circuit Court alleged.

Illinois AG Kwame Raoul’s lawsuit comes after the U.S. Justice Department largely failed in its attempts to prosecute companies in two separate labor competition cases.

Vee Pak, which does business as Voyant Beauty, contracted ...