Duke University is agreeing to pay more than $54 million to settle claims that it and nearby University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill conspired to hold down salaries of medical professors by agreeing not to hire staff away from each other.Lawyers for the former Duke radiology professor who filed the class-action lawsuit called the average $10,000 promised to more than 5,400 current and former workers one of the largest for employees claiming violations of federal anti-trust laws.
Spokesman and attorneys representing Duke University didn't return messages seeking comment Friday.
UNC settled last year after the public university's hospital, medical school and administrators agreed to provide documents lawyers could use in their case against Duke, a private school about 10 miles (16 kilometers) away.