class-action Credi: Bigstock

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin led a coalition of attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in his state's district court arguing that "no-poach" agreements between companies are presumptively unlawful and that such agreements violate antitrust laws and harm workers.

The plaintiffs in the proposed class action, Robinson v. Jackson Hewitt, are tax preparers who claim they were harmed by the no-poach agreements which prohibited Jackson Hewitt corporate-owned and franchise locations from hiring one another's workers. They were part of Jackson Hewitt franchise agreements which the coalition claimed restricted the rights of workers to move from one job to another. The plaintiffs alleged they were injured by an illegal conspiracy between the company and its franchisees which banned hiring workers from other locations to suppress wages.