US: Microsoft, Oracle gear up for latest non-poaching fight

Microsoft, Oracle and several animation companies are filing their first briefs in the latest legal battle over non-poaching agreements, say reports.

The companies are facing allegations of anticompetitive conduct by colluding to agree to not hire each others’ employees, which kept salaries unfairly low, plaintiffs argue.

The case is the third major wave in non-poaching litigation in the past two years. Several months ago Google, Apple, Adobe and Intel settled non-poaching claims for $324.5 million; that case is ongoing, however, as US District Judge Lucy Koh denied acceptance of the offer, arguing it was too low for Silicon Valley employees. The companies appealed her decision and the matter is currently at the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Last year, Pixar Animation, Lucasfilm and Intuit settled their own non-poaching claims for $20 million.

Now, however, Microsoft is looking to distance itself from being grouped into what some claim is a conspiracy between technology companies to keep wages low. A lawyer for Microsoft filed a brief Monday claiming “nothing…suggests this ‘overarching conspiracy’ included Microsoft.”

Similarly, Oracle has denied involvement in such collusion. “Oracle was deliberately excluded from all prior litigation filed in this matter because all the parties investigating the issue concluded that there was absolutely no evidence that Oracle was involved,” the company’s Vice President Deborah Hellinger said last month.

Full content: The Recorder

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