The U.S. Department of Justice has sided with UPMC workers in an ongoing lawsuit alleging the $28 billion hospital system violated employees’ rights and holds a monopoly on health care where it operates.
The department’s antitrust division on Monday filed a statement of interest in the case in federal court in Pittsburgh in response to UPMC’s motion to dismiss the complaint.
The lawsuit, filed in January, alleged that a UPMC monopoly on health care has led to depressed wages, unfair working conditions and chronic understaffing.
Filed by a nurse in Erie, the complaint sought class-action status to represent registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, nurse assistants and orderlies.
The complaint alleged that UPMC’s acquisition of 28 competitors between 1996 and 2018 has actually reduced health care services through the closure of four hospitals and downsizing of three others.
The lawsuit also said that UPMC used noncompete clauses and “do-not-rehire” blacklists to keep workers from leaving.
Paul Wood, a spokesman for UPMC, said on Tuesday that the plaintiffs’ allegations are false.
“UPMC is among the best places to work in all the regions we serve throughout Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland due to above-industry-average wages and employee benefits, which are designed to support the 100,000 people employed throughout the UPMC health system and their families,” he said.
In July, UPMC filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the plaintiffs misconstrued antitrust laws and were targeting hospital acquisitions that occurred decades ago under heavy government scrutiny.
“The hypotheses at the heart of this case defy ‘judicial experience and common sense,’” they wrote.
In their brief, UPMC’s attorneys called the plaintiffs’ claims a “lengthy and stale list of run-of-the-mill employment grievances,” that do not include essential antitrust claims.
But in its filing on Monday, the Justice Department said it is UPMC that is misinterpreting the state of the law.
In its filing, the government said the United States has a strong interest in how antitrust laws are applied to labor markets.
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“Competition for workers among rival employers supports economic opportunity for all Americans by improving wages, benefits and other working conditions,” they wrote.
But monopolizing power in labor markets can deprive workers of fair, competitive pay and their ability to bargain for better working conditions, the filing continued.
“Rivalry among employers to hire and retain workers is therefore foundational to a properly functioning, market-based economy,” the government wrote.
That is especially true in the field of health care, according to the filing.
“Many health care workers provide life-saving care under difficult working conditions. When competition for their labor suffers — resulting in lower pay and even worse working conditions — the health of the nation suffers, too.”
The government filing urged the court to reject UPMC’s motion to dismiss, arguing it would upend legal precedent and give other employers “a blank check to wield unlawfully acquired market power, which could result in reduced wages and worse working conditions in concentrated markets.”
In a statement Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, praised the Justice Department’s decision to support the workers.
”Today, the Department of Justice has taken an essential step to stand with workers and hold UPMC accountable for its long history of abuses. I couldn’t be more proud to stand with these brave workers as they fight to end the monopolistic practices that have harmed them and our entire region for far too long,” Lee said.
Paula Reed Ward is a TribLive reporter covering federal and Allegheny County courts. She joined the Trib in 2020 after spending nearly 17 years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team. She is the author of “Death by Cyanide.” She can be reached at pward@triblive.com.