Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP

Suit Reveals Alleged Silicon Valley Anti-Poaching Scheme

Some of the biggest technology firms in the world may have violated federal antitrust laws by engaging in secret pacts not to hire each other's best workers, a new lawsuit claims. The suit, filed in federal court in San Jose, claims Apple, Google, Intel, Adobe, Intuit, Lucasfilm, and Pixar entered into anti-poaching agreements not to recruit employees from each other. The plaintiffs claim such agreements allowed the Silicon Valley companies to keep workers' wages low by stifling competition for the most sought-after workers.

According to the plaintiffs' Jan. 27 court filing, Apple's former CEO Steve Jobs personally policed the agreement with Google. Jobs, in a March 2007 email to Google's CEO Eric Schmidt, forwarded an attempt by a Google employee to recruit an Apple engineer, writing "I would be very pleased if your recruiting department would stop doing this," the plaintiffs' filing states. Schmidt then forwarded Jobs's email along to others at Google, writing "I believe we have a policy of no recruiting from Apple and this is a direct inbound request. Can you get this stopped and let me know why this is happening?" In response, Google's director of staffing, Arnnon Geshuri, wrote that the employee who contacted the Apple worker would be "terminated within the hour."

The plaintiffs' lead attorney, Joseph Saveri, told the Associated Press that the workers could potentially get thousands of dollars each if they win the case. The plaintiffs are hoping to turn the suit into a class action, which would affect tens of thousands of workers.

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