A maritime trade recruiter has agreed to work with plaintiffs and share employee compensation information in a lawsuit accusing main U.S. shipbuilders of limiting worker mobility, marking the primary settlement within the case.
Attorneys for a proposed class of engineers and designers suing General Dynamics, Huntington Ingalls Industries and different corporations disclosed the settlement with Faststream Recruitment on Tuesday in Alexandria, Virginia federal court docket.
The October lawsuit mentioned the shipbuilders violated U.S. antitrust legislation by scheming to limit hiring from one another in a conspiracy that suppressed employee pay.
General Dynamics, Huntington Ingalls and others have denied any wrongdoing and have requested a choose to dismiss the lawsuit.
UK-based Faststream, which was additionally named as a defendant, is not going to pay any cash as a part of its settlement. It agreed to share communications, surveys and information regarding compensation and advantages from 2000 to current for some naval engineers and marine architects.
The deal to dismiss Faststream from the case requires court docket approval.
Attorneys for Faststream and the plaintiffs had no speedy remark. The firm didn’t admit legal responsibility. Representatives from General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
Faststream focuses on the recruitment within the international maritime, delivery and power sectors. The firm was based in 1999 and employs greater than 100 individuals, in response to its web site.
The lawsuit mentioned Faststream “abided by the no-poach rules agreed to by the defendants and facilitated unlawful information exchanges among the defendants that helped them enforce their no-poach conspiracy.”
Shana Scarlett, an legal professional for the plaintiffs, in a court docket submitting on Tuesday mentioned the settlement offers “substantial” cooperation advantages, and “it avoids the risks, costs, and delay of continuing protracted litigation against Faststream.”
The case is Scharpf v. General Dynamics, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, No. 1:23-cv-01372.
For plaintiffs: Steven Toll of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll; Shana Scarlett of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro; and George Farah of Handley Farah & Anderson
For Faststream: Nathan Eimer of Eimer Stahl and Lynn Brugh of Williams Mullen
(Reuters – Reporting by Mike Scarcella)
