Apple and Google Face Salary-Fixing Lawsuit 402
beaverdownunder writes "Google, Apple, Adobe and Intel have been accused of maintaining an agreement not to poach each other's staff, thus restricting increases in salary and restricting career development. California District Judge Lucy Koh has found that the plaintiffs have adequately demonstrated antitrust injury. Sparked by a request from the late Steve Jobs, from 2005 to 2007 the defendants had a 'no cold-call' policy of staff recruitment amongst themselves. Jobs is also alleged to have threatened Palm with litigation for not entering into a 'no cold-call' agreement with Apple." Besides the companies named above, Intuit, Pixar, and Lucasfilm are also involved.
Re:Cold calls? (Score:5, Informative)
"Hi Mr. X, we'd like to pay you 25% more to come work for us if you're a good fit for the team."
I love my job and the people I work with, but if Google called with that offer, I would listen. I would be stupid to not listen and at least give my boss the opportunity to make a counter-offer.
This is hardly new (Score:5, Informative)
My grandpa had to move clear across the country back in the 50s because of "no poaching" deals in the aircraft industry on the east coast. The only way to advance was for someone above you in your company to retire/die/quit/get fired then they'd fill the gap. And no worries for the company about having to provide competitive wages. If they caught someone sniffing around another company, the person was fired and blacklisted. If someone from another company came sniffing around, they'd call the other company and the person would be fired and blacklisted. It's pretty close to creating a slave labor force. Sure, the shackles are padded but it's very demoralizing to know that trying to advance your career could end it.
Re:Ahhhh! Corporations own the government! (Score:5, Informative)
You can vote out your government.
You can't vote a damn thing out of Apple and Google.
Not a great choice, but by far the best choice we have.
Re:a nice whopper of an evil by Google (Score:2, Informative)
First to resort to Ad Hominem loses. Sorry.
Re:open salary discussion (Score:5, Informative)
These contracts couldn't ever really work if people were allowed talk salary
Of course you can talk salary. It's a legal right in the US. (29 U.S.C.157). Here's the NRLB workplace poster [nlrb.gov]. Report employer violations to 1-866-667-NLRB (6572) .
Under the NLRA, you have the right to:
Illegal conduct will not be permitted. If you believe your rights or the rights of others have been violated, you should contact the NLRB promptly to protect your rights, generally within six months of the unlawful activity. You may inquire about possible violations without your employer or anyone else being informed of the inquiry. Charges may be filed by any person and need not be filed by the employee directly affected by the violation. The NLRB may order an employer to rehire a worker fired in violation of the law and to pay lost wages and benefits, and may order an employer or union to cease violating the law. Employees should seek assistance from the nearest regional NLRB office, which can be found on the Agencyâ(TM)s Web site: http://www.nlrb.gov/ [nlrb.gov] You can also contact the NLRB by calling toll-free: 1-866-667-NLRB (6572) or (TTY) 1-866-315-NLRB (1-866-315-6572) for hearing impaired.
NRLB enforcement was weak under the Bush Administration. Now they're back. Here's a case where an employer fired someone for posting about working conditions on Facebook. The NLRB forced the employer to rehire them with back pay. [nlrb.gov]