Fourteen large companies in the oil industry organized a system to conduct surveys of the salaries they each paid to managerial, professional, and technical (MPT) employees. They used a "Job Match Survey" to be sure that the jobs at each company were compared properly. Representatives of the companies met to discuss job classifications and other data issues. A consultant then analyzed, refined, and distributed the data to the 14 firms. The firms used the data in setting the salaries of MPT employees.
Todd and other employees sued, contending that the sharing of information was done to hold down MPT salaries. Plaintiffs contended this violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act. They did not claim that the companies conspired to fix wages, but that the sharing of information allowed the employers to control wages more than they could have without such information. The district court dismissed the suit. Plaintiffs appealed.

1. The appeals court held that the information sharing could violate the Sherman Act. Wage information is often gathered and published. Why is it normally legal?
2. The district court held that the oil companies did not control the MPT market, but that contention was rejected by the appeals court. Why might that court see it differently?