US naval shipbuilders seek Supreme Court review in engineers' pay case

By Mike Scarcella

WASHINGTON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - General Dynamics GD.N, Huntington Ingalls HII.N and other major U.S. shipbuilders have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision that they must face a lawsuit accusing them of conspiring to suppress pay for architects and engineers.

In a petition to the high court made public this week, the companies challenged a May ruling by the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that reinstated the proposed class action. A lower judge had dismissed the case after concluding it was filed outside the four-year statute of limitations for antitrust claims.

The lawsuit filed in 2023 alleged a group of shipbuilders and nearly a dozen engineering consultancies violated federal antitrust law by agreeing since 2000 not to compete with each other for the hiring of key employees.

The plaintiffs said the alleged “no poach” recruitment conspiracy cost workers hundreds of millions of dollars in lost compensation. Lawyers for the plaintiffs have estimated tens of thousands of engineers and architects could be part of the proposed class.

Huntington Ingalls had no immediate comment, and General Dynamics did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A lawyer for the plaintiffs declined to comment.

The defendants have denied any wrongdoing. One recruiter that was sued in the case has since agreed to cooperate with the plaintiffs.

The shipbuilders have turned to veteran appellate lawyer Donald Verrilli Jr of Munger Tolles, a former U.S. solicitor general, to lead the case at the high court. Verrilli did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The shipbuilders in their Supreme Court filing called the plaintiffs’ claims “long-since-stale” and said a ruling for the engineers would unfairly expand the window in which antitrust lawsuits can be filed.

They said the plaintiffs should not be allowed to rely on an alleged unwritten agreement to justify their claims.

The 4th Circuit’s ruling “gives plaintiffs a powerful new tool to resurrect ancient conspiracy allegations and to bring class actions challenging years or decades of alleged conduct,” the petition said.

In the appeals court ruling, 4th Circuit Judges James Wynn and DeAndrea Gist Benjamin said the plaintiffs had adequately alleged the shipbuilders created a no-poach agreement that they tried to cover up, delaying when the plaintiffs learned about it.

The case is General Dynamics Corp et al v. Susan Scharpf, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 25-293.

For petitioner: Donald Verrilli Jr of Munger, Tolles & Olson

For respondent: No appearances yet

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