Apple, Adobe, Google, and Intel had a $415 million settlement approved last week to settle the terms of a lawsuit brought by software engineers alleging that the companies had violated wage and anti-trust laws by agreeing not to recruit or “poach” each other’s employees.
The case began in 2009 when the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust division investigated the employment and recruitment practices of the companies. Then, in 2011, software engineers sued the companies for damages, claiming the companies had agreed to provide each other notice whenever one made an offer to another’s employee. They also alleged the companies agreed …