Settlement
Defense Contractor “No-Poach” Litigation
The Joseph Saveri Law Firm, LLP has reached settlement agreements with defendants Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. (“Booz Allen”), CACI International, Inc. and CACI Technologies, LLC (together, “CACI”), and Mission Essential Personnel, LLC (“MEP.” Collectively with Booz Allen and MEP: “defendants”).
The firm and co-counsel Gibbs Law Group LLP (together, “class counsel”) filed an antitrust class action in 2019 alleging that defendants agreed not to hire one another’s skilled professionals working at the Joint Intelligence Operations Center Europe Analytic Center located in Molesworth, England (JAC Molesworth). The suit is pending in United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division.
Plaintiffs Sarah hunter and David Youtz represent a class defined as all individuals who worked for defendants at JAC Molesworth between January 1, 2015, and June 30, 2022 (the “class period”). Plaintiffs allege defendants' illegal agreements suppressed compensation for the class members, in violation of United States antitrust law. Class counsel seek damages and injunctive relief.
On June 8, 2021, CACI agreed to pay $200,000 to settle all claims against it arising from the facts alleged in this class action. The money is to be used to defray expenses incurred by class counsel in pursuing plaintiffs’ claims.
On September 2, 2022, plaintiffs reached a settlement with Booz Allen and MEP under which they agreed to pay up to $5.075 million to settle all claims against them arising from the facts alleged in this class action. Of that amount, $1.325 million is to be used exclusively to make payments to the class members. The amount of the individual payments will be calculated by dividing each class member’s estimated total base salary during the class period (the numerator) by the combined estimated total base salaries paid to all class members during the class period (the denominator), and multiplying the resulting fraction by the settlement fund amount of $1.325 million (plus interest, if any). In other words, each class member’s share of the settlement fund amount will be directly proportional to their share of the total compensation paid to all class members at JAC Molesworth during the class period.
In addition, Booz Allen and MEP have agreed to pay up to $3.75 million to cover expenses, fees, and service awards, including approximately $2.25 million to reimburse class counsel for costs incurred to date in bringing this action, primarily attributable to expert witness expenses; approximately $60,000 for the costs of notice and settlement administration; $20,000 for service awards to the class representatives, and attorneys’ fees up to $1.62 million.
On December 19, 2022, the Court granted preliminary approval of the settlement agreements, certified the settlement class, and appointed the firm and Gibbs Law Group LLP as Settlement Class Counsel. On January 9, 2023, the Court issued an additional preliminary approval order, which commenced the Notice Period. A final approval hearing is scheduled for April 12, 2023, 2023, at 9:30 a.m., in Courtroom 1, Room 331 of the Joseph P. Kinneary United States Courthouse, located at 85 Marconi Blvd., Columbus, Ohio.
Further information is available at the case's settlement website: https://molesworthemployeesettlement.com.