Silicon Valley Hiring

The freedom to work in a competitive market and to change jobs are basic rights protected by federal law. Companies cannot collude or otherwise make agreements that restrict an individual’s choices or ability to work. Such a move would be especially damaging in specialist fields with an already limited number of positions – yet this is exactly what five software engineers working in Silicon Valley allege to have happened, and their suit has now been certified as a class action.

"Any such agreement would restrict individuals’ ability to switch companies or earn a fair wage."

Judge Lucy Koh of the Northern District of California certified the case after ruling that the technicians’ interests and the nature of their allegations justified a class action as thousands of potential members may have suffered similar injuries. The suit was first filed in 2011 and alleged that Intel, Intuit, Apple, Adobe, Google, Pixar and Lucasfilm had agreed in a ‘pact’ not to steal each others’ employees. The alleged ‘conspiracy’ was agreed upon by the respective companies’ executives in email exchanges, the suit claims. Any such agreement would restrict individuals’ ability to switch companies or earn a fair wage, the suit asserts.

The suit also claims that the agreement between companies aimed to suppress compensation for employees by keeping their pay lower than it would be if the companies were not working together. Although the original suit sought an “All Employee” class (whereby every single employee who claimed a U.S. salary from the companies within the specific time would be able to join), Judge Koh ruled in April that there was not enough common ground to justify certifying the class. The adjusted suit, now approved for certification, will include as many as 50,000 potential plaintiffs and lists software and hardware engineers, developers and designers as potential class members.