Story 2015-01-18 2WR6 Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe Settle Employee Poaching Lawsuit

Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe Settle Employee Poaching Lawsuit

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in legal on (#2WR6)
Earlier this year tech giants Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe were hit with a class action lawsuit by 64,000 programmers and engineers employed by the companies, over secret agreements not to poach each other's employees, spanning 2005 to 2009. The plaintiffs claim that this cost them mobility and higher paying jobs, estimated to be worth $3 billion in lost compensation.

Now the companies have agreed to a settlement, to the tune of $415 million, to be paid jointly by all four, while still denying any wrongdoing. A few hundreds of millions is a fairly small amount, and it may be worth paying this cost to settle quickly. All four companies have tried to cultivate an image as progressive and worker friendly. A long drawn out court case, where they are shown to conspire against the best interest of their employees would damage this reputation.
Reply 5 comments

Might be a bit obvious, but... (Score: 2, Insightful)

by wootery@pipedot.org on 2015-01-18 23:52 (#2WRA)

Here's hoping they don't settle.

Far better to see these companies dragged through the mud and made to pay a whole bunch more.

64k (Score: 1)

by fishybell@pipedot.org on 2015-01-19 07:20 (#2WRB)

Not to nit pick, but as we're talking programmers and engineers, shouldn't that be 65,535, not 64,000?

So... (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward on 2015-01-19 09:52 (#2WRC)

That's $95,000,000 for the lawyers and $500 each for the class members, yay the US legal system!

Peached eggheads (Score: 1)

by fnj@pipedot.org on 2015-01-19 19:29 (#2WRH)

n/t