Title Insurer Stewart Agrees to $2.5M ‘No-Poaching’ Settlement With New York

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a settlement with one of the largest title insurance underwriters, Stewart Title Guaranty Corp., ending non-competitive no-poach agreements between Stewart and its competitors.

As a result of this agreement, Stewart said it will terminate any existing no-poach agreements, pay the state $2.5 million, and cooperate with the state’s ongoing investigations in the industry.

It is the third no-poaching agreement James has reached with title insurers this year.

A no-poach policy is an agreement between two or more companies not to solicit, recruit, or hire each other’s employees. The attorney general’s office (OAG) said it discovered that Stewart and its competitors agreed not to take each other’s workers, an illegal practice that reduces workers’ earning potential.

Stewart entered into this agreement for the purpose of resolving the OAG investigation only and “neither admits nor denies” the OAG’s findings, the agreement says.

James has been targeting no-poach agreements. In the past year, her office has ended the use of “no-poach” agreements by other title insurance companies AmTrust, First Nationwide and Old Republic National Title.

Also, in 2019, James and a coalition of other states’ attorneys general entered into no-poaching agreements with four national fast food franchisors — Dunkin’, Arby’s, Five Guys, and Little Caesars.

Stewart issues title insurance policies either directly through its own agency or indirectly through independent title insurance agencies. Direct agents and independent agencies are competitors in the labor market and, according to James, should be able to compete for employees on the basis of salaries, benefits, and career opportunities. “Stewart’s no-poach policies with other companies prevented that from happening,” the OAG stated.

“No-poach agreements harm New York workers and break New York laws,” said James. “When business owners collude to stifle workers’ abilities to earn higher salaries and grow within their career fields, it hurts hardworking New Yorkers. Businesses that try to hold workers hostage will face the consequences of their illegal actions.”

Topics Carriers New York