Apple, Google, Intel, other tech firms admit secret agreements to not poach employees [View All]

[Newsjock]

Source: San Jose Mercury News

Top executives at six prominent tech companies, including Silicon Valley titans Apple, Google and Intel, have admitted that they created a series of secret intra-company agreements designed to prevent their employees from job switching between them, and have agreed to a settlement in which the companies would end so-called "no solicitation agreements," the U.S. Justice Department announced Friday.

The six companies, a group that also includes Adobe Systems, Intuit, and Pixar, acknowledged that starting in 2005 they agreed to not "cold call" employees at selected competitors to try to recruit them, a network of deals that eliminated a significant form of competition between the companies and violated federal anti-trust law, the Justice Department said.

According to the government's complaint, a network of no-solicitation deals were formed and actively managed by senior executives between Google and Apple, and between Google, Intuit and Intel. Apple, meanwhile, also put no-solicitation deals in place with Adobe and Pixar.

While the companies acknowledged the government's findings as part of the settlement, they did not admit to violating the law. Under the agreement, which must be approved by a federal court and which would run for five years, they will be required to stop the practice, and file compliance plans with the government. No fines were levied; a Justice Department official said the government does not have statutory authority to levy fines for these kinds of anti-trust cases.

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_16166037