_—
`
`bdo
`
`Ww
`
`hs
`
`wr
`
`ON
`
`~~
`
`oo
`
`‘Oo
`
`Case 2:21-cr-00098-RFB-BNW Document 1 Filed 03/30/21 Page 1 of 7
`1 of 7
`Case 2:21-cr-00098-RFB-BNW Document1 Filed 03/30/21 Page
`———
`———ENTERED
`
`FILED
`—_.
`
`
`
`
`HECOUNSEL/PARTIES QF RECORD
`
`
`
`
`
`MAR 26 2021
`
`
`CLERK US DISTRICT COURT
`
`DISTRICT OF NEVADA
`Sooo
`
`
`DE
`
`ALBERT B. SAMBAT(CABN 236472)
`CHRISTOPHER J. CARLBERG (CABN 269242)
`PARADI JAVANDEL(CABN 295841)
`MIKAL J. CONDON (CABN 229208)
`U.S. Department of Justice
`Antitrust Division
`
`450 Golden Gate Avenue
`Box 36046, Room 10-0101
`San Francisco, CA 941092
`Tel: 415.934.5300 /Fax: 415.934.5399
`
`albert.sambat@usdoj.gov
`
`CHRISTOPHER CHIOU
`Acting United States Attorney
`Nevada Bar Number 14853
`
`ERIC C. SCHMALE
`Assistant United States Attorney
`501 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Suite 1100
`Las Vegas, Nevada 89101
`Tel: 702.388.6336 / Fax: 702.388.6418
`
`eric.schmale@usdoj.gov
`the United States
`Attorneysfor
`
`UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`
`DISTRICT OF NEVADA
`
`CRIMINAL INDICTMENT
`
`CaseNo.
`
`4A
`
`VIOLATION:
`
`Conspiracy in Restraint of Trade
`(15 U.S.C. § 1)
`
`UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
`Plaintiff,
`
`v.
`
`RYAN HEE; and VDA OC, LLC, formerly
`ADVANTAGEON CALL, LLC,
`
`Defendants.
`
`
`
`
`
`

`

`Case 2:21-cr-00098-RFB-BNW Document 1 Filed 03/30/21 Page 2 of 7
`2 of 7
`Case 2:21-cr-00098-RFB-BNW Document1 Filed 03/30/21 Page
`
`i)
`
`we
`
`hs
`
`1S]
`
`Oo
`
`“I
`
`oo
`
`‘Oo
`
`The Grand Jury charges thatat all times relevant to this Indictment:
`
`COUNT ONE
`Conspiracy in Restraint of Trade
`(15 U.S.C. § 1)
`
`BACKGROUND
`
`1.
`
`The Clark County School District (“CCSD”)
`
`wasthe nation’s fifth-largest school
`
`district and educated over
`
`300,000 students annually in Clark County, Nevada. CCSD
`
`provided
`
`specialized
`
`services and nursing
`
`care for medically fragile students, that is, students with
`
`medically complex needs. CCSD contracted with private healthcare staffing companies
`
`to
`
`provide its students with the necessary specialized nursing
`
`care.
`
`2.
`
`In 2013, CCSD announced a
`
`Request for
`
`Proposal (“RFP”) inviting companies
`
`to
`
`submit proposals
`
`to
`
`provide
`
`nurse
`
`staffing services to support students with complex medical
`
`needsat schools throughoutthe district. The RFP wastitled “Contract
`
`Nursing Services for
`
`Medically Fragile Students: RFP 13086 RMH”(“RFP 13086 RMH”). Under RFP 13086 RMH,
`
`the nursesthat the selected staffing companies
`
`would assign
`
`to work at CCSD were to
`
`provide
`
`care and perform specialized
`
`health procedures
`
`for medically fragile students. The nurses would
`
`constant care to
`
`provide
`
`medically fragile students, including during classroom time,traveling
`
`the hallways, bus rides, meals, field trips, and other school-based activities.
`
`DEFENDANTS AND CO-CONSPIRATORS
`
`3.
`
`From as
`
`early
`
`as 2011 until in or around July 2017, ADVANTAGE ON CALL,
`
`LLC (“AOC”)
`
`was
`
`limited liability company incorporated
`
`in the State of Ohio that provided
`
`contract healthcare staffing services in several states, including
`
`from its branch office in Las
`
`Vegas, Nevada. AOC employed healthcare personnel, including nurses, and assigned them to
`
`facilities with which the company had contracted to
`
`provide staffing services. In or around July
`
`2017, AOC changedits nameonfile with the State of Ohio to VDA OC, LLC.
`
`

`

`Case 2:21-cr-00098-RFB-BNW Document 1 Filed 03/30/21 Page 3 of 7
`Case 2:21-cr-00098-RFB-BNW Document1 Filed 03/30/21 Page 3 of 7
`
`_—
`
`bo
`
`Ww
`
`is
`
`ws
`
`ON
`
`sl
`
`co
`
`‘Oo
`
`10
`
`11
`
`12
`
`13
`
`14
`
`15
`
`16
`
`17
`
`18
`
`19
`
`20
`
`21
`
`22
`
`4,
`
`Defendant Ryan HEE was a UnitedStates citizen, residing in Las Vegas, Nevada.
`
`HEEwas
`
`employed
`
`as a
`
`Regional Manager by AOCin its Las Vegas office, and was
`
`responsible
`
`for managing the office’s hiring of nurses and
`
`developing
`
`new customers that needed nurse
`
`staffing services in Nevada, Arizona, and Utah.
`
`5.
`
`Company
`
`A wasa
`
`corporation that provided
`
`contract healthcare staffing services
`
`in several states, including from its branch office in Las Vegas, Nevada. Company A
`
`employed
`
`healthcare personnel, including nurses, and assigned them to facilities with which Company
`
`A
`
`had contracted to
`
`provide staffing services.
`
`6.
`
`Company A employed
`
`as an Account ManagerIndividual 1, who was
`
`responsible
`
`for managing the company’s
`
`Las Vegasoffice’s recruitment and staffing of nurses at the
`
`company’s clients, including hospitals, schools, and other facilities, in Southern Nevada.
`
`7.
`
`AOC
`
`competed with CompanyA in the Southern Nevada area to
`
`provide
`
`contract
`
`healthcare staffing services. AOC also competed with Company
`
`toattract, hire, and retain
`
`healthcare personnel, including
`
`nurses.
`
`8.
`
`On August 19, 2013, AOC entered into an
`
`agreement with CCSD to
`
`provide
`
`contract
`
`nursing services under RFP 13086 RMH. On August 29, 2013, Company A also
`
`entered into an
`
`agreement with CCSD to
`
`supply
`
`contract
`
`nursing services under RFP 13086
`
`RMH.
`
`9.
`
`AOC and Company
`
`A werethe two
`
`primary providers of contract nurses to
`
`CCSDthrough their respective
`
`contracts awarded under RFP 13086 RMHand
`
`periodic
`
`amendments extending the contractual agreements.
`
`10.
`
`Another corporation and individuals, not made defendants in this Indictment,
`
`23
`
`participated
`
`as
`
`co-conspirators
`
`in the offense charged herein and
`
`performed
`
`acts and made
`
`24
`
`statements in furtherance thereof.
`
`

`

`Case 2:21-cr-00098-RFB-BNW Document 1 Filed 03/30/21 Page 4 of 7
`4 of 7
`Case 2:21-cr-00098-RFB-BNW Document1 Filed 03/30/21 Page
`
`11.
`
`Wheneverin this Indictment reference is made to any
`act, deed,
`
`or transaction of
`
`any corporation
`
`or limited liability company, the
`
`allegation
`
`meansthat the corporation
`
`or limited
`
`liability company engagedin the act, deed,
`
`or transaction by
`
`or
`
`throughits officers, directors,
`
`agents, employees,
`
`or other
`
`representatives while they
`
`were
`
`actively engaged in the management,
`
`direction, control or transaction ofits businessoraffairs.
`
`DESCRIPTION OF THE OFFENSE
`
`12.
`
`Beginning in or around October 2016 and continuing until at least in or around
`
`July 2017, the exact dates being unknown to the Grand Jury, in the District of Nevada and
`
`elsewhere, AOC, HEE, and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, knowingly
`
`entered
`
`into and engaged in a
`
`conspiracy
`
`to suppress and eliminate competition for the services of nurses
`
`by agreeing
`
`to allocate nurses and to fix the wages of those nurses. The combination and
`
`conspiracy engaged in by the defendants and their co-conspirators
`
`was a per se
`
`unlawful, and
`
`thus unreasonable, restraint of interstate trade and commercein violation of Section 1 of the
`
`Sherman Act
`
`(15 U.S.C. § 1).
`
`13.
`
`The charged conspiracy consisted of a
`
`continuing agreement, understanding, and
`
`concert of action among the defendants and their co-conspirators, the substantial terms of which
`
`were that AOC and Company
`
`A would allocate nurse
`
`employees by
`
`not
`
`recruiting
`
`or
`
`hiring each
`
`other’s nurses
`
`assigned
`
`to CCSD and would refrain from raising the wages of those nurses.
`
`MEANS AND METHODSOF THE CONSPIRACY
`
`14.
`
`For the purpose of forming and carrying
`
`out the charged combination and
`
`conspiracy, AOC, HEE,and their co-conspirators, among other things, did the following:
`
`a.
`
`participated in conversations and communications to discuss allocating
`
`nurses between AOC and Company A—for example,
`
`on or about October 21, 2016, HEE
`
`—_—
`
`bo
`
`ww
`
`aN
`
`wn
`
`Oo
`
`“I
`
`io]
`
`‘oO
`
`10
`
`11
`
`12
`
`13
`
`14
`
`15
`
`16
`
`17
`
`18
`
`19
`
`20
`
`21
`
`22
`
`23
`
`24
`
`

`

`Case 2:21-cr-00098-RFB-BNW Document 1 Filed 03/30/21 Page 5 of 7
`Case 2:21-cr-00098-RFB-BNW Document1 Filed 03/30/21 Page 5 of 7
`
`emailed Individual 1, stating
`
`“Per our
`
`conversation,
`
`we will not recruit any of your active CCSD
`
`nurses.”;
`
`b.
`
`agreed during those conversations and
`
`between AOC and CompanyA by
`
`agreeing
`
`communications
`not to recruit or hire each other’s nurses
`
`to allocate nurses
`
`assigned
`
`to
`
`CCSD—for example,
`
`on or about October 21, 2016, in response to HEE’s email described
`
`above, Individual 1 wrote, “Agreed
`
`on our end as well. I am
`
`glad
`
`we can work together through
`
`this, and assure that we will not let the field employees
`
`run our businesses moving forward.”;
`
`c.
`
`agreed during those conversations and communicationsthat, if an AOC or
`
`Company
`
`A nurse
`
`assigned
`
`to CCSD
`
`sought employmentwith the other company, the other
`
`company would
`
`notify
`
`the
`
`employing company immediately
`
`and would not discuss employment
`
`with that nurse;
`
`d.
`
`agreed during those conversations and communications to refuse to
`
`assigned
`
`to CCSD—for example, in the
`
`—
`
`bo
`
`Ww
`
`yS
`
`ws
`
`ON
`
`~
`
`Co
`
`‘oO
`
`10
`
`11
`
`12
`
`13
`
`negotiate any further wage increase with their nurses
`
`email described above, HEEstated, “If anyone threatens us for more money,
`
`wewill tell them to
`
`kick rocks!”;
`
`e.
`
`instructed certain
`
`Company
`
`A
`
`employees
`
`notto recruit or hire a co-
`
`conspirator company’s
`
`nurses
`
`assigned
`
`to CCSD;
`
`f.
`
`refrained from
`
`recruiting
`
`or
`
`hiring
`
`each other’s nurses
`
`assigned
`
`to CCSD;
`
`and
`
`g.
`
`refused to
`
`negotiate
`
`a
`
`pay-rate increase with at least one nurse
`
`assigned
`
`to
`
`CCSD with the knowledge that the nurse would not be able to
`
`negotiate
`
`a
`
`higher
`
`rate from the
`
`other company—specifically,
`
`on or about March 24, 2017, in response to a nurse’s request for a
`
`pay increase, Individual 1 instructed his subordinate, “tell [the nurse] no” and “plus Advantage
`
`On-Call and us have a deal not to
`
`poach nurses.”
`
`14
`
`15
`
`16
`
`17
`
`18
`
`19
`
`20
`
`21
`
`22
`
`23
`
`24
`
`

`

`Case 2:21-cr-00098-RFB-BNW Document 1 Filed 03/30/21 Page 6 of 7
`Case 2:21-cr-00098-RFB-BNW Document1 Filed 03/30/21 Page 6 of 7
`
`TRADE AND COMMERCE
`
`15.
`
`The businessactivities of AOC and CompanyA thatare the
`
`subject
`
`ofthis
`
`Indictment were within the flow of, and substantially affected, interstate trade and commerce.
`
`For
`
`example,
`
`a.
`
`the payments that CCSD made to AOC and to
`
`Company A for the services
`
`rendered by their respective
`
`nurses traveled in interstate trade and commerce;
`
`b.
`
`the payments that AOC and Company A madeto their respective
`
`nurses
`
`traveled in interstate trade and commerce;
`
`c.
`
`the payments that CCSD made to AOC and to
`
`Company A for the services
`
`rendered by their
`
`respective
`
`nurses were funded in substantial part by the State of Nevada. The
`
`State of Nevada funding included a substantial portion of federal funding from Medicaid,
`
`managed through the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,
`
`a federal agency
`
`based in Baltimore County, Maryland and part of the United States Department of Health and
`
`Human Services; and
`
`d.
`
`both AOC and Company
`
`A
`
`employed
`
`healthcare workers, including
`
`nurses, in multiple
`
`states.
`
`ALL IN VIOLATION OFTITLE 15, UNITED STATES CODE, SECTION1.
`
`DATEDthis 30th day of March, 2021.
`
`A TRUEBILL:
`
`/S/
`FOREPERSON OF THE GRAND JURY
`
`—
`
`i)
`
`ww
`
`aN
`
`wn
`
`On
`
`~
`
`oO
`
`‘oO
`
`20
`
`21
`
`22
`
`23
`
`24
`
`

`

`Case 2:21-cr-00098-RFB-BNW Document 1 Filed 03/30/21 Page 7 of 7
`7 of 7
`Case 2:21-cr-00098-RFB-BNW Document1 Filed 03/30/21 Page
`
`bo
`
`ChAAER
`
`RICHARD A. POWERS
`Acting Assistant Attorney General
`
`
`
`MARVIN N. PRICE JR.
`
`Director of Criminal Enforcement
`
`WZZZzam
`
`CHRISTOPHER J. CARLBERG
`
`
`
`ALBERT B. SAMBAT
`
`PARADI JAVANDEL
`MIKAL J. CONDON
`Trial Attorneys
`Antitrust Division
`U.S. Department of Justice
`
`AK
`
`MANISH KUMAR
`Chief, San Francisco Office
`_
`Antitrust Division
`U.S. Department of Justice
`
`_.
`
`co
`
`CHRISTOPHER CHIOU
`Acting United States Attorney
`
`ERIC C. SCHMALE
`Assistant United States Attorney
`
`10
`
`11
`
`12
`
`13
`
`14
`
`15
`
`16
`
`17
`
`18
`
`19
`
`20
`
`21
`
`22
`
`23
`
`24
`
`