Google, Apple settle high-tech workers' lawsuit

Adobe System Corp. echoed Intel's remarks in its own statement. “We firmly believe that our recruiting policies have in no way diminished competition for talent in the marketplaces,” the software maker said.

The suit, which grew out of an earlier Justice Department investigation, was seeking $3 billion in damages on behalf of 64,600 workers employed at some point from 2005 through 2009. Had damages been awarded in trial, they could have been tripled under antitrust laws forbidding U.S. companies from engaging in behavior that suppresses a free market.

A $9 billion award would have translated into an average of nearly $140,000 per worker. Programmers, software developers and computer scientists make an average of $80,000 to $110,000 annually, depending on their specific duties, according to the latest wage data from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Some of the aggrieved employees in the class-action lawsuit worked at software maker Intuit Inc., and two filmmakers now owned by Walt Disney Co., Pixar Animation and Lucasfilm. Intuit, Pixar and Lucasfilm had previously negotiated a $20 million settlement of the claims against them. That settlement still needs court approval.

The 3-year-old case revolves around a “gentlemen's agreement” that the companies forged to retain employees. Internal emails excavated during the pre-trial proceedings showed Google, Apple and other major technology employers agreed not to recruit each other's workers to help protect their own interests.

The companies maintained that the “no-poaching” cartel wasn't illegal because they still could hire employees from their partners in the arrangement, as long as the workers initiated the inquiries about vacant positions.

But documents that had been surfacing in the case painted a more sordid picture. Google, in particular, seemed especially leery of approaching Apple employees for fear of infuriating the mercurial Jobs, who had warned the company not to raid his workforce.