Apple and Others Officially Agree to $325 Million Settlement in Wage Case

Apple, Google, Intel, and Adobe have formally agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by former employees accusing them of purposefully depressing wages by conspiring not to poach each other’s talent, reports the LA Times.

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The settlement amount of $324.5 million was reported by Reuters last month but was only confirmed yesterday in settlement records filed in the federal court.

However, this doesn’t quite mean that everything is fine now, as US District Judge Lucy Koh – whom we know from the Apple vs. Samsung patent trials – has to approve the amount. If she grants it, the plaintiffs will get only a fraction (about 10%) of what they sought. They originally demanded a$3 billion, the amount allegedly saved by the companies by suppressing wages.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 64,000 employees, who claimed that Apple and the other tech companies conspired not to recruit each other’s talent. This pact lasted about four years from 2005 to 2009.

The $324.5 million adds to another $20 million the plaintiffs received from settlements with Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Intuit.

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