Lawsuit Filed Over Tech Companies Anti-Poaching Agreements

Former Lucasfilm software engineer Siddharth Hariharan filed a class action lawsuit on Wednesday claiming several high-tech companies violated antitrust laws by having “No Solicitation” agreements with each other.

The lawsuit was filed by Hariharan, who is currently CEO of InEarth, with the Lieff Cabraser Herimann & Bernstein law firm. The companies included in the lawsuit are Adobe Systems Inc., Apple Inc., Google Inc., Intel Corporation, Intuit Inc., Lucasfilm Ltd. and Pixar. The no solicitation agreements were reportedly set in place to prevent companies from poaching employees from each other.

“My colleagues at Lucasfilm and I applied our skills, knowledge, and creativity to make the company an industry leader,” said Hariharan. “It's disappointing that, while we were working hard to make terrific products that resulted in the enormous profits for Lucasfilm, senior executives of the company cut deals with other premiere high tech companies to eliminate competition and cap pay for skilled employees.”

Joseph Saveri, a lawyer with the firm, said that “competition in the labor market results in better salaries, enhanced career opportunities for employees, and better products for consumers.”

Saveri also claims that employees compensation from such companies was reduced by up to fifteen percent and that these companies owe their employees by taking “responsibility for their misconduct.”

The lawsuit was filed in the California Superior Court in Alameda County and represents a class of current and former employees, dating back to 2005, of Adobe, Apple, Google, Intel, Intuit, Lucasfilm and Pixar.