Apple and other tech companies pay $415 million to settle ‘no poaching’ lawsuit

By

Apple raked in the cash last quarter.
The long-running antitrust lawsuit is finally over.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The long-running Silicon Valley antitrust case that saw Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe accused of conspiring to suppress worker salaries has finally come to an end.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh gave final approval to a $415 million settlement in a ruling on Wednesday. This is an increase of around $90 million on the $324.5 million settlement rejected last year, but far below the $3 billion that plaintiff Michael Devine had asked for in a letter written to Koh in 2014.

Attorneys had asked for $81 million to be awarded in damages this time, although Koh decided on a smaller sum — saying that anything above this would be an inappropriate “windfall” for the lawyers.

The lawsuit was originally brought by 64,000 tech workers affected by the illegal non-poaching agreement, dating back to 2005. The case initially involved Intuit, Lucasfilm, Pixar, and others as well, although these companies came to earlier settlements with the plaintiffs.

 

Some of the key evidence in the case involved incriminating emails sent by Steve Jobs to Google’s Eric Schmidt.

Now that this whole thing is (thankfully) over, hopefully everyone involved can move on positively with their lives.

Source: Reuters

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.