Apple, others officially agree to $325M settlement in Silicon Valley wage fixing case
Nearly one month after reaching a preliminary agreement, attorneys representing thousands of Silicon Valley workers on Thursday officially asked that the federal court overseeing the case approve a settlement that will cost Apple, Google, Intel, and Adobe some $324.5 million for conspiring to suppress salary inflation.
Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt during the iPhone's introduction at MacWorld in 2007.
"Plaintiffs and Settling Defendants reached the Settlement through hard-fought, arm's length negotiations after three years of litigation," the filing reads. Judge Lucy Koh -- a familiar face to Apple watchers -- must still approve the settlement.
If approved, each of the more than 60,000 affected workers will receive between $2,000 and $8,000, depending on their salary during the time covered by the suit. The four defendants have agreed to make an initial payment of $1 million within 10 days of preliminary approval, with the remaining $323.5 million to be paid within 7 days of final approval.
More than $80 million of that fund is being sought by attorneys for the plaintiffs to cover legal fees and expenses.
As part of the deal, Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe have also been released from any further claims arising from the alleged conspiracy. That agreement applies to any hiring actions taken up to the effective date of the settlement.
The suit was first brought in 2011 by Silicon Valley employees who accused Apple, Google, Intel, Adobe, and others of illegally agreeing not to hire each other's employees, effectively reducing competition for the best engineers and lowering salaries. Evidence against the technology giants was strong?-- including a call to Google's Sergey Brin from late Apple CEO Steve Jobs in which he threatened "war" against Google if they hired any more Apple employees -- which likely contributed to the desire to settle, rather than litigate the case and risk losing as much as $9 billion on antitrust grounds.
The U.S. Department of Justice leveled its own lawsuit regarding the matter after investigating Apple, Adobe, Google, Intel, Intuit, and Pixar for the same anti-poaching measures. Like in this class-action suit, the defendants ultimately settled that case with the DOJ in 2010.
Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt during the iPhone's introduction at MacWorld in 2007.
"Plaintiffs and Settling Defendants reached the Settlement through hard-fought, arm's length negotiations after three years of litigation," the filing reads. Judge Lucy Koh -- a familiar face to Apple watchers -- must still approve the settlement.
If approved, each of the more than 60,000 affected workers will receive between $2,000 and $8,000, depending on their salary during the time covered by the suit. The four defendants have agreed to make an initial payment of $1 million within 10 days of preliminary approval, with the remaining $323.5 million to be paid within 7 days of final approval.
More than $80 million of that fund is being sought by attorneys for the plaintiffs to cover legal fees and expenses.
As part of the deal, Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe have also been released from any further claims arising from the alleged conspiracy. That agreement applies to any hiring actions taken up to the effective date of the settlement.
The suit was first brought in 2011 by Silicon Valley employees who accused Apple, Google, Intel, Adobe, and others of illegally agreeing not to hire each other's employees, effectively reducing competition for the best engineers and lowering salaries. Evidence against the technology giants was strong?-- including a call to Google's Sergey Brin from late Apple CEO Steve Jobs in which he threatened "war" against Google if they hired any more Apple employees -- which likely contributed to the desire to settle, rather than litigate the case and risk losing as much as $9 billion on antitrust grounds.
The U.S. Department of Justice leveled its own lawsuit regarding the matter after investigating Apple, Adobe, Google, Intel, Intuit, and Pixar for the same anti-poaching measures. Like in this class-action suit, the defendants ultimately settled that case with the DOJ in 2010.
Comments
Were i live the iPhone 4S price in Apple Store is 399.00 Euros while in the other places the prices are around 329 or 339 euros, why is Apple getting sued for something like this? Tim Cook clearly does the right thing.
This has zero to do with iPhone prices :rolleyes:
1. Wage fixing, not price fixing.
2. There’s no price fixing.
3. I guess if you want a guarantee of a product’s quality, you’re an idiot.
This has zero to do with iPhone prices
If approved, each of the more than 60,000 affected workers will receive between $2,000 and $8,000,
Is clearly that people who works at Apple Stores are the ones who filled this lawsuit
1. Wage fixing, not price fixing.
2. There’s no price fixing.
3. I guess if you want a guarantee of a product’s quality, you’re an idiot.
Not an idiot thats why edited, you must understand not every Apple store treats customers well, they are plenty of Samsung fanboys who works at Apple Store
Having what to do with iPhone prices from different retail outlets?
No, Silicon Valley. Says right there. No one wants to poach a retail worker.
Having what to do with iPhone prices from different retail outlets?
No, Silicon Valley. Says right there. No one wants to poach a retail worker.
Now i see it, it costs the same, i thought we will pay more for their services in Apple Store
http://store.apple.com/us/buy-iphone/iphone4s
Sorry, i've been having some problems buying an iPhone from a store, now i have to look for other stores and i then i saw this article and went boom, but i was wrong this has nothing with my problems
So you are an idiot?
Gotta love class action lawsuits: A pittance to the plaintiffs and a big payday for the lawyers.
SMH
Apple conspired to suppress salaries, not salary inflation.
Sillicon Valley or no Sillicon Valley.. my post was not off topic, The article was about Apple employees suing Apple.. so i just pointed out other Apple employees,
If you are an Apple fan? you should choose your words little bit more carefully when you respond to your fellow Apple user
When other person insult me and calls me an idiot is so easy to insult him back like "an Idiot! Why? because i knocked up your Momma? don't worry next time i'll use protection! but i don't think we are not 9 years old..are we?
My advice you should delete your last post and i will delete this post too