On October 20, 2016, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jointly issued a publication entitled “Antitrust Guidance for Human Resource Professionals” which, according to the opening paragraphs, is “intended to alert human resource (HR) professionals and others involved in hiring and compensation decisions to potential violations of the antitrust laws.”

In recent years, there has been a continuing emphasis by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on investigations of corporate wrongdoing, including an increase in the investigation and finding of individual liability for that wrongdoing. This emphasis recently was documented in something now being referred to as the “Yates Memorandum.”

According to Sally Quillian Yates, Deputy