Apple to Face Class-Action Lawsuit Over Anti-Poaching Agreements

Apple, Google, Intel, and Adobe must face a class-action lawsuit from employees who claim their wages were held down by anti-poaching agreements between the companies, reports Bloomberg.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, yesterday granted class-action certification. Koh’s ruling follows an April ruling rejecting the employees’ bid to proceed as a class -- partly because they failed to demonstrate that all or almost all class members were affected by the anti-solicitation agreements -- and an August hearing in which she said the case was “much stronger” after additional pretrial information gathering.

“The court finds that, based on the extensive documentary evidence, economic theory, data, and expert statistical modeling, plaintiffs’ methodology demonstrates that common issues are likely to predominate over individual issues,” Koh wrote.


A lawyer representing the employees said the suit covers as many as 64,626 members.

Google responded to the ruling by saying, “We have always actively and aggressively recruited top talent.” Apple and Adobe declined to comment.

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