Antitrust Policy
It shall be the policy of the American Association of Orthopaedic Executives (AAOE) to be in strict compliance with all Federal and State Antitrust laws, rules, and regulations. Therefore:
- These policies and procedures apply to all membership, board, committee, and other meetings of the AAOE, and all meetings attended by representatives of the AAOE.
- Discussions of prices or price levels are prohibited. In addition, no discussion is permitted of any elements of a company's operations which might influence price such as:
- Cost of operations, supplies, labor, or services;
- Allowance for discounts;
- Terms of sale including credit arrangements; and,
- Profit margins and markups, provided this limitation shall not extend to discussions of methods of operation, maintenance, and similar matters in which cost or efficiency is merely incidental.
- It is a violation of Antitrust laws to agree not to compete, therefore, discussions of division of territories or customers or limitations on the nature of business carried on or products sold are not permitted.
- Boycotts in any form are unlawful. Discussion relating to boycotts is prohibited, including discussions about blacklisting or unfavorable reports about particular companies including their financial situation.
- It is the AAOE's policy that all meetings attended by representatives of the AAOE where discussion can border on an area of antitrust sensitivity, the AAOE's representative request that the discussion be stopped and ask that the request be made a part of the minutes of the meeting being attended. If others continue such discussion, the AAOE's representative should excuse himself from the meeting and request that the minutes show that he left the meeting at that point and why he left. Any such instances should be reported immediately to the President and staff of the AAOE.
- It is the AAOE's policy that a copy of these Antitrust Compliance Policies and Procedures be given to each officer, director, committee member, official representative of member companies and AAOE employees annually and that the same be read, or understood at all meetings of the membership of the AAOE.