Apple, Google To End Lawsuit Over Poaching
Four companies including Apple and Google have agreed to a new settlement that would resolve an antitrust class action lawsuit by tech workers, who accused the firms of conspiring to avoid poaching each other's employees. Plaintiffs accused Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe Systems in their 2011 lawsuit of limiting job mobility and, as a result, keeping a lid on salaries.
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, last year rejected a $324.5 million settlement of the lawsuit as too low after one of the named plaintiffs objected.
That worker will support the new agreement, his attorney Daniel Girard said. However, Girard declined to disclose the amount, and it was not included in the court filing.
The case was based largely on emails in which Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, former Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt and some of their rivals detailed plans to avoid poaching each other's prized engineers.
In the court filing on Tuesday, the companies said plaintiffs will file a detailed explanation of the new deal "imminently." Koh will then likely decide whether to accept or reject it.