Staffing Agency Collusion Covered by Illinois Antitrust Act

The Illinois Supreme Court struck down an overly broad interpretation of state antitrust law that could have allowed employers to collude with each other to set worker wages.

An exemption to the Illinois Antitrust Act only covers legitimate labor union activity, so temporary staffing agencies allegedly using it to curb competition for employees could be violating the law, the court said Friday.

“Multiemployer agreements concerning wages they will pay their employees and whether they will hire each other’s employees may violate the Illinois Antitrust Act unless the agreement arises as part of the bargaining process and ‘the affected employees, through ...