Buyer Cartel Doctrine: Lessons From Labor Antitrust

While there is general agreement that buyer collusion can be as anticompetitive (and illegal) as seller collusion, the sparse caselaw on buyer cartels leaves many specific doctrinal questions unanswered. However, while buyer cartel cases have been relatively rare, one particular subtype of buyer power has been making consistent antitrust headlines. Employers are “buyers” of their employees’ labor, and cases involving employer wage-fixing and no-poach agreements can shed light on buyer cart