Four tech giants, including Apple and Google, have attacked the decision of U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh for rejecting a proposed $324.5 million settlement over Silicon Valley hiring practices.
In a court filing made later on Thursday, Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overrule Koh’s verdict.
Koh had rejected the proposed settlement, claiming the amount was too low.
In doing so, the tech companies are arguing that she “committed clear legal error” and “impermissibly substituted the court’s assessment of the value of the case for that of the parties who have been litigating the case for more than three years.”
The ongoing case concerns an alleged conspiracy to limit job mobility and salaries in Silicon Valley.
A key piece of evidence concerned emails from the late Steve Jobs, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and others.
Koh has argued that there is “substantial and compelling evidence” that Jobs “was a, if not the, central figure in the alleged conspiracy.”
She notes that unless the court is to have “wasted years on this case” the settlement must be considerably larger — possibly “at least $380 million.”
Apple and Google recently reignited mediation talks. A hearing before Koh is scheduled for September 10.
Source: Reuters
