Ex-pratt & Whitney worker charged with conspiracy to suppress wages

A former Pratt & Whitney employee faces federal criminal charges that he conspired with suppliers to restrict the hiring and recruiting of engineers and other skilled workers to suppress wages.

Mahesh Patel of Glastonbury, a former director of global engineering services, enforced an agreement as an intermediary between conspiring suppliers, federal prosecutors say. The investigation looked at activities from 2011 to 2019.

Patel appeared Tuesday before a federal court in Hartford after his arrest on charges of conspiracy in restraint of trade and was released on conditions including travel restrictions and a $100,000 bond. The charge is the first in the federal antitrust investigation, authorities say.

“The antitrust division, together with our law enforcement partners, have prioritized rooting out conspiracies in labor markets,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Here, thousands of workers have been victimized over a long period of time.”

“Given the significance of major defense and aerospace companies to Connecticut’s economy, it is vital that the labor market in this industry remain fair, open and competitive to our workers,” said Peter S. Jongbloed, counsel to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut. “No one should be illegally denied the opportunity to pursue better jobs, higher pay and greater benefits.”

Southport attorney Brian Spears, who represents Patel, declined to comment.

A spokesman for Raytheon Technologies Corp., the parent company of jet engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, said Raytheon is “committed to complying with applicable state and federal laws and is cooperating fully with the government’s inquiry.”

According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Patel upheld a conspiracy among aerospace companies in California, Florida and Ohio to not hire or recruit one another’s employees.

“At times, Patel confronted and berated suppliers who cheated on the agreement, often at the direct behest of another supplier and threatened to punish nonconforming suppliers by taking away valuable access to projects,” authorities said.

Patel and co-conspirators “recognized the mutual financial benefit of this agreement — namely, reducing the rise in labor costs that would occur when aerospace workers were free to find new employment in a competitive environment,” officials said.

Patel “justified the no-hire/ no-recruit agreement by appealing to the wage suppression benefits that it provided to the conspirators, either by referring specifically to wages or salaries or, more broadly, to shared costs or prices,” according to an affidavit by a special agent at the Defense Criminal Investigative Services of the Defense Department.