Published via G: 2014-04-08 19:00:42
The companies privately scoff at the $9 billion figure that the plaintiffs are seeking, contending it amounts to extortion. The employees, who number about 100,000, suggest that the facts are so damning against the companies -- and so embarrassing -- that they won’t settle for anything less than a blindingly high number.
My Two Cents
Anti-Poaching has never been uglier! The facts and evidence are super-ugly. Google, Apple, Intel and others all implicated. Anti-trust violation by Apple, Google, etc., except Facebook (Zuckerberg / Sandberg are golden!). Clear violation/breach by Apple, Google and others. Causation is crystal clear - thanks to email. Funny how both Schmidt and Jobs just continued to communicate in a persistent fashion (emails are forever folks). The damages are real. 100,000+ plaintiffs. $9 billion would make the plaintiff atty's wealthy for 10 lifetimes (must be a unique contingent fee arrangement). Honestly - I could see this going as high $20-$25 billion. Huge governmental smack-down on the offending companies. Even for these guys, this is significant!
