Tech Giants Negotiating In $9 Billion Lost Wages Class-Action
April 8, 2014
Some of Silicon Valley’s largest tech firms are in settlement talks over a class-action lost wages case that could have them on the hook for billions. A 2010 Department of Justice probe over alleged collusion between Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe, to prevent employees from leaving for rivals by engaging in a mutual “hands-off” recruiting policy led to a class-action lawsuit involving about 100,000 workers, seeking $9 billion in lost wages. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rebuffed the tech giants’ efforts to have the suit tossed out, so ahead of a May 27 San Jose trial date, the firms are hashing out numbers, as Silicon Valley observers wait eagerly to see what the firms will have to pay.
Damning e-mails between the likes of Apple’s founder and then-CEO Steve Jobs, Google chief Eric Schmidt, and Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen show the companies agreeing to the “hands-off” recruiting arrangement, and these emails are just the tip of the iceberg, according to plaintiffs.
No comments:
Post a Comment