DLA Piper achieves appellate victory for AMN Healthcare in antitrust lawsuit

DLA Piper recently won a significant appellate victory on behalf of AMN Healthcare, a leading provider of temporary staffing and workforce solutions in the US healthcare industry, defeating a lawsuit seeking more than US$50 million in damages that alleged violations of federal and state antitrust laws.

The plaintiff, Aya Healthcare Services Inc., claimed, among other things, that a so-called “no-poach” provision in a contract it had signed with AMN Healthcare violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, as well as several California state laws. Aya Healthcare Services also alleged that the termination of its agreement with AMN constituted an antitrust violation.

In two decisions, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California granted summary judgment for AMN Healthcare, and on August 19, 2021, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed, rejecting all of the plaintiff’s claims and holding that Aya failed to prove that the non-solicitation provision “has a substantial anticompetitive effect that harms consumers in the relevant market.”

The DLA Piper team representing AMN Healthcare in the appeal was led by David H. Bamberger (Washington, DC), and included partner Noah Katsell (San Diego); of counsel Jennifer Feldman (San Diego); and associates Julie Gryce, Ashleigh Angeletti (both of San Diego), Karley Buckley (Houston) and Brian Young (Washington, DC).