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Tech Workers Oppose Settlement They Reached In Silicon Valley Hiring Case

Posted by samzenpus on from the on-second-thought dept.

itwbennett writes Tech workers have asked an appeals court not to approve a $324.5 million settlement in Silicon Valley's controversial employee hiring case, according to a document filed Tuesday. This move by the plaintiffs puts them in alignment with an earlier decision by Judge Lucy Koh of the federal district court in San Jose to throw out the settlement on the grounds that it wouldn't pay the workers enough. Attorneys for the defendants — Apple, Google, Adobe and Intel — subsequently appealed Koh's decision.

2 of 54 comments (clear)

  1. Systemic abuse can only be handled one way by i+kan+reed · · Score: 5, Informative

    And that is to make sure that the companies in question get at most zero dollars and zero cents net profit from their scummy decisions.

    Forming an employer trust is really really really scummy, and can make a lot of money. Throwing the book at them isn't enough. You need to drop the entire 16 volume set on them from terminal velocity.

    1. Re:Systemic abuse can only be handled one way by hawguy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That sounds great and all... but court decisions that bankrupt companies result in pretty much the same thing every time. The company goes bankrupt and, at best, the lawyers get paid. Then the company reopens with all the same people that made the decision in charge but under new ownership and the debt gets written off. The old owners would be all those same employees that had their retirement in stock which is now worthless. The people in charge are long retired and don't care.

      I agree that it's not fair, but there simply doesn't exist the legal mechanisms to make managers that made these decisions over a decade ago pay. The primary culprit seemed to be Steve Jobs and God took care of him.

      Somehow I don't think a multibillion dollar settlement is going to force Google or Apple into bankruptcy:

      http://www.bizjournals.com/san...

      Apple Inc.'s $158.8 billion cash stockpile more than triples the $48.5 billion currently in the coffers of the U.S. government, according to a new report.
      Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. also have also posted cash and cash equivalents worth more than the total U.S. Treasury at roughly $84 billion and $58 billion, respectively, according to U.S. Trust data cited by British newspaper the Telegraph.

      Part of the reason they have these multi billion dollar cash reserves is by illegally colluding to keep employee turnover down and reduce wages.