Lawsuit against Microsoft over worker no-poaching deals dismissed

From ComputerWorld: A lawsuit against Microsoft that charged it with entering into restrictive hiring agreements with other companies has been dismissed by a court in California, with the judge declaring that the employees had waited too long to file the suit.

The lawsuit followed up on a class-action suit filed by hi-tech employees against Intel, Google, Apple, Intuit, Lucasfilm, Pixar and Adobe Systems, which charged these companies with engaging in an “overarching conspiracy” to fix and suppress employee compensation and to restrict employee mobility by introducing measures such as "do-not-cold-call" lists.

Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California approved in September a US$415 million settlement between the tech workers and Intel, Google, Apple and Adobe. Intuit, Lucasfilm and Pixar had earlier settled with the workers.

The seven tech companies had earlier settled similar charges in 2010 with the U.S. Department of Justice while not admitting any wrongdoing, but agreed not to ban cold calls and enter into any agreements that prevent competition for employees.

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