Labor Watchdog Probing Data-Sharing Pacts With Plaintiffs’ Firms

An internal US Labor Department watchdog is investigating the department’s use of secret information-sharing agreements with plaintiffs’ law firms following Republican criticism on Capitol Hill.

The DOL’s Inspector General posted the engagement letters it sent to the Employee Benefits Security Administration, Wage and Hour Division, and the solicitor’s office, informing them that auditors are reviewing how officials shared investigative information with non-governmental entities involved in class actions.

A Colorado federal judge late last year tossed out a confidential agreement EBSA executed with plaintiffs’ firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC. Since then, agency officials have confirmed the existence of at ...