Raytheon target of federal probe
Raytheon Technologies, the parent company of Pratt & Whitney, recently discovered it is the target of a federal investigation, according to its annual report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The investigation has focused on “alleged hiring restrictions” between Pratt & Whitney and some of its suppliers of outsourced engineering sources. However, the subpoena also included requests involving Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of Raytheon, according to the report.
Raytheon said it is cooperating with the investigation. No criminal charges have been filed against the company, Raytheon said in the report.
The company received a grand jury subpoena in late 2019 as part of a Department of Justice criminal investigation into “purported agreements not to solicit or hire employees in violation of the federal antitrust laws,” the report stated.
On Dec. 15, the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut filed a criminal indictment against a former Pratt & Whitney employee and other employees of outsourced engineering suppliers charging each of them with violating the federal antitrust laws.
An unsealed criminal complaint alleged that a former manager for Pratt & Whitney, Glastonbury resident Mahesh Patel, participated “in a longrunning conspiracy with managers and executives of several outsource engineering suppliers ... to restrict the hiring and recruiting of engineers and other skilled laborers among their respective companies,” according to a news release from United States District Court for the District of Connecticut.
Raytheon, based in Waltham, Mass., employs about 16,000 people in Connecticut.
“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 Jongbloed, the head of the U.S. Attorney’s office in Connecticut’s National Security and Cybercrime unit, in December. “No one should be illegally denied the opportunity to pursue better jobs, higher pay and greater benefits.”
Raytheon said no current or former Collins Aerospace employees were named in the indictment.
That same month, a few Connecticut lawyers filed federal class-action lawsuits against Pratt & Whitney, as well as several other aerospace engineering firms, alleging the companies were conspiring to “restrain competition” within the industry’s labor force, according to previous reports.
Raytheon said it expects all the lawsuits “ultimately will be consolidated into a single joint complaint.”
“We believe that each of these lawsuits lacks merit,” the company said, and added that it does not believe “this matter will have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial conditon or liquidity.”