boutons_deux
05-18-2011, 09:15 AM
Think the war was only on low-end employees? You're wrong, again.
Apple, Google, Adobe sued for allegedly fixing salaries
Takeaway: In an attempt to stave off multi-million dollar bidding wars, several high-tech companies entered into agreements that the Department of Justice now says violated anti-trust laws.
In environments that require only the best talent, it’s not hard to imagine how top tech companies could indulge in some serious bidding wars. TechCrunch recently reported that two Google employees, Sundar Pichai and Neal Mohan, were each offered millions of dollars in stock options and other compensation to keep them from defecting to Twitter.
Knowing how out of control this kind of situation could become, some of those same high-tech companies entered into agreements with one another where they would agree not to poach or cold call each others’ employees.
In 2010, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) investigated these companies and concluded that they were violating antitrust laws with these agreements. The DOJ reached a settlement with six high technology companies–Adobe Systems Inc., Apple Inc., Google Inc., Lucas Film, Intel Corp., Intuit Inc. and Pixar–that would prevent them from entering into “no solicitation” agreements for employees.
This settlement did not include any compensation for those employees that had been adversely affected by the agreements, but that’s about to change. There is now a class action lawsuit filed with Siddharth Hariharan, an engineer for Lucas Film between 2007 and 2008, as the named plaintiff. According to the complaint:
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/career/apple-google-adobe-sued-for-allegedly-fixing-salaries/3119?tag=nl.e101
Apple, Google, Adobe sued for allegedly fixing salaries
Takeaway: In an attempt to stave off multi-million dollar bidding wars, several high-tech companies entered into agreements that the Department of Justice now says violated anti-trust laws.
In environments that require only the best talent, it’s not hard to imagine how top tech companies could indulge in some serious bidding wars. TechCrunch recently reported that two Google employees, Sundar Pichai and Neal Mohan, were each offered millions of dollars in stock options and other compensation to keep them from defecting to Twitter.
Knowing how out of control this kind of situation could become, some of those same high-tech companies entered into agreements with one another where they would agree not to poach or cold call each others’ employees.
In 2010, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) investigated these companies and concluded that they were violating antitrust laws with these agreements. The DOJ reached a settlement with six high technology companies–Adobe Systems Inc., Apple Inc., Google Inc., Lucas Film, Intel Corp., Intuit Inc. and Pixar–that would prevent them from entering into “no solicitation” agreements for employees.
This settlement did not include any compensation for those employees that had been adversely affected by the agreements, but that’s about to change. There is now a class action lawsuit filed with Siddharth Hariharan, an engineer for Lucas Film between 2007 and 2008, as the named plaintiff. According to the complaint:
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/career/apple-google-adobe-sued-for-allegedly-fixing-salaries/3119?tag=nl.e101