Judge Acquits Aerospace Executives Accused of Rigging Labor Market

WASHINGTON—The Justice Department’s push to prosecute employers over alleged deals to fix wages or stop workers from getting better jobs has a major defect: Courts don’t see any crime committed.

On Friday, a federal judge in Connecticut threw out criminal charges against six aerospace-industry executives accused of agreeing to not poach one another’s employees. The result is the latest trial defeat for the Justice Department, which is trying to prosecute conduct previously treated as civil wrongdoing.