Management-side lawyers and antitrust specialists are parsing a recent U.S. Justice Department settlement targeting a “no poach” deal that restricted employee recruitment between two companies, one new sign the Trump administration isn't shying from enforcement in this area.

The Justice Department in April settled a complaint against rail equipment suppliers Knorr-Bremse AG and Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp. In the lawsuit, the government had alleged the companies unlawfully agreed for years not to compete for the other's employees.

The DOJ has warned since October 2016, in new guidance for human resources professionals, that companies and individuals could face criminal charges for no-poach agreements, but the government did not file any such charges in this case. Makan Delrahim, the department's antitrust chief, suggested in January that the first criminal charges were imminent.