Judge Denies Dismissal of No-Poach Conspiracy Case

theodp writes "Testifying before Congress in 2007, Google's HR chief stated: 'We make great efforts to uncover the most talented employees we can find.' But according to the U.S. Dept. of Justice, Google actually went to some lengths to avoid uncovering some of tech's most talented employees, striking up agreements with Apple, Intel, and other corporations to avoid recruiting each other's employees. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh ruled that Google, Apple, Intel, Adobe, Disney, Pixar, Intuit and Lucasfilm must face a lawsuit claiming they violated antitrust laws by entering into no-poaching agreements with each other. 'I don't want to see any obstruction on discovery,' Koh told lawyers during a hearing. According to the head attorney representing the plaintiffs, the total damages could exceed $150 million if just 10,000 entry-level engineers were affected."

Comments

Re:Antitrust?

[InsertCleverUsername]

Stanlyb is modded Flamebait for pointing out the absurd repugnance of the AC's attitude?

Really... What kind of Stockholm syndrome bullshit causes conservatives to rant about free markets and non-interference, but not when it applies to workers or unions negotiating the price of their services? God knows there isn't any serious discussion of limiting CEO pay. Somehow it seems that colluding to lower the pay of workers with a rare skill is just fine, but the guys at the top, who make the rules, must be exempt. Anything less would be socialist class warfare, right?