A class action lawsuit against Apple, Google and other tech companies for agreeing not to poach each other’s employees has finally been settled. Steve Jobs, Google’s Eric Schmidt and others had agreed in emails not to offer higher salaries to each other’s employees in order to reduce the risk of losing valuable employees. When the emails came to light, the 64,000 employees affected successfully argued that this had limited their earning potential.
After Apple’s originally settlement offers were rejected by Judge Lucy Koh as inadequate, the company increased its offer to $415M, which the judge agreed was fair. Reuters reports that Koh has now granted final approval of this sum.
Koh did, however, reject the $81M cut the lawyers in the case had demanded …
Koh decided such an award would be an inappropriate “windfall” for the lawyers, and awarded about $40 million instead.
It’s of course not the first time that emails from Steve Jobs have gotten Apple into trouble. Such emails formed key evidence in both ebook and iPod antitrust cases.
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“Koh did, however, reject the $81M cut the lawyers in the case had demanded”
Lawyers! Gotta love em.
Well lawyers have to eat too… who could live off half of that, i.e. $40.5 million? lol
Each plaintiff gets a little under six and a half grand… lawyers get $40m.
‘Murica!
Not to defend exorbitant lawyers fees, but a law firm has hundreds of employees it needs to pay, and many legal actions result in a $0 payout to the lawyers.
All that said, no one deserves $1000 an hour. But plenty of people get that and much more.
I bet the lawyers will appeal !!