Patently Apple reports that Apple shareholder R. Andre Klein has filed a class action suit on behalf of Apple shareholders over the company’s employee anti-poaching agreement with other tech firms.
The lawsuit claims that Apple’s no-hire agreements with other companies including Google, Adobe, and Intel caused the company to grossly mismanage its assets, mislead its investors, breach the duty of “honest services”, and hurt its overall value. The suit seeks damages for all shareholders through a jury trial, and names a number of Apple executives as individual defendants including current CEO Tim Cook and even former CEO Steve Jobs.
Patently Apple notes the action lists the defendants in this case as being Tim Cook, William Campbell, Millard Drexler, Arthur Levinson, Robert Iger, Andrea Jung, Fred Anderson and the Estate of Steven Jobs.
A $324 million settlement proposal between the four tech companies and tech workers was recently rejected by Judge Lucy Koh, who stated that the total settlement “falls below the range of reasonableness” when compared a $20 million settlement by Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Intuit. She said Apple and others should pay a minimum of $380 million.
