US: Silicon Valley no-hiring suit comes to an end

The defendants accused of anticompetitively striking agreements not to hire each others’ employees have reportedly settled with plaintiffs, according to court documents filed Thursday.

Major technology companies, including Google, Apple, Intel and Adobe, have decided to settle with tech workers who filed the class action suit in 2011 against the firms, arguing the companies kept workers’ wages artificially low by striking non-poaching agreements.

While terms of the settlement were not disclosed, the plaintiffs, made up of tens of thousands of tech workers, had been seeking $3 billion in damages. The settlement follows in the footsteps of fellow Silicon Valley tech groups Lucasfilm, Pixar and Intuit, which had already settled for $20 million.

The class action was filed following an investigation by federal officials that found evidence of such non-hiring agreements. The case grabbed national attention as the sides argued over whether emails exchanged between Apple founder Steve Jobs and other tech executives, reportedly conversing about their agreements to not hire each others’ employees, should be admissible as they portrayed Jobs in a poor light.

Full content: New York Times

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