ABOUT THE CASE
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) currently employs over 95,000 workers. It is the largest private-sector employer in Pennsylvania. Over the past two decades, UPMC has expanded its geographic reach and its market concentration. It comprises over 40 hospitals located throughout Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the western New York region. It is the 18th largest hospital chain in the country and boasts an annual revenue of $26 billion.
UPMC has pursued a series of anticompetitive acquisitions and other conduct that has increased its market power. Among other things, it has limited its employees’ mobility and suppressed wages.
CASE FILED
On January 18, 2024, the Joseph Saveri Law Firm, LLP filed a complaint against UPMC on behalf of a class of skilled healthcare workers who currently or formerly worked at UPMC. The suit, filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, alleges UPMC’s mistreatment of skilled healthcare workers is part of an overarching anticompetitive scheme to acquire and exploit: 1) monopoly power over the provision of hospital output services and 2) monopsony power over the employment of hospital workers (including skilled healthcare workers). UPMC allegedly used its monopsony power to prevent workers from exiting or improving their working conditions, to suppress workers’ wages and benefits, and to drastically increase their workloads.
This civil antitrust action under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2, seeks treble damages, and other relief arising out of UPMC’s alleged anticompetitive conduct directed at the employment of skilled healthcare workers at UPMC owned and/or operated facilities.