(CHICAGO, October 1, 2009)—Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP has secured a significant victory for the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) in a federal antitrust price-fixing case. The lawsuit, which was brought by registered nurses against several Chicago-area hospitals and hospital systems, was denied class certification Monday by Judge John Grady of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
The case, Reed et al. v. Advocate Health Care, et al., was filed in 2006 and alleged two claims under the federal antitrust laws. The first claim alleged that the defendants (Advocate Health Care, Resurrection Health Care, Children’s Memorial Hospital, Evanston Northwestern Healthcare [now known as NorthShore University HealthSystem] and UCMC) conspired to depress the wages of the registered nurses who were working for them. The second claim alleged a conspiracy to exchange compensation information. UCMC had strenuously denied every aspect of the complaint. In his 52-page opinion, Judge Grady ruled that individual issues regarding nurse compensation predominate over common issues and a class could not be certified.
The Sonnenschein team was led by Margo Weinstein, Christopher King and Richard Marcus, litigators in the firm’s Chicago office, and Robert Joseph, a litigator in the Washington, D.C., office. It also included attorneys from other practices, including antitrust, labor and employment, health care and corporate.
With more than 700 lawyers and other professionals in 13 offices in the United States and Europe, and a global reach throughout the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, Sonnenschein serves the legal and public interest needs of many of the world's best-known and most admired businesses, nonprofits and individuals. Founded in 1906, Sonnenschein is a leader in innovative legal services, serving our clients through integrated, inter-office cooperation and teamwork among practice groups to provide efficient, effective and timely legal services and business counseling. For more information, visit www.sonnenschein.com.
Media Contact:
Jeff Mutterperl
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP
(212) 398-8470
jmutterperl@sonnenschein.com
