Google, Apple, Intel and Adobe Systems have settled a class-action lawsuit against nearly 65,000 employees who had alleged the companies conspired to keep wages artificially low through no-hire agreements. Reuters report reveals that Apple, Google, Adobe and Intel have agreed to settle the case and the settlement amount is worth $324 million.
The tech workers claim that from 2005 to 2009 Apple, Google, Adobe and Intel conspired to not poach each others’ employees in order to avert salary bidding wars. The employees had been seeking $3 billion in damages. Under antitrust rules, that could have been tripled to $9 billion.
During pretrial proceedings in the class-action antitrust case, emails from top executives including the late Steve Jobs, Google cofounder Sergey Brin and then-CEO Eric Schmidt surfaced, showing the executives conferred on hiring plans, sometimes through intermediaries. The settlement goes before a judge on May 27.
Other companies were also involved, including Pixar, Lucasfilm and Intuit, although they previously settled their lawsuits for about $20 million.
Source:Reuters