MOVIE STUDIOS REACH ANTI-TRUST SUIT SETTLEMENT
Several major movie studios have reached an anti-trust settlement. A U.S. District Court judge in San Jose has approved a settlement involving some of the biggest players in the high tech engineering world. The suit was filed by a group of software engineers and high tech employees who alleged that some of the biggest names in California’s motion picture and technology industries, including Apple, Adobe, Google, Lucasfilms, Pixar, Intuit, and others were engaged in a violation of federal and California antitrust laws, by deliberately entering into agreements not to recruit or hire employees from one another.
Following months of litigation and settlement negotiations, Lucasfilm, Pixar, and Intuit reached a settlement with the parties, agreeing to pay more than $20M to the class of engineers and other workers.
Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division conducted a fairness hearing on May 1, 2014, and ultimately determined that the $20M settlement was “fair, reasonable, and provided adequate compensation and benefits to the members of the class.” Intuit agreed to pay class members $11 million and Lucasfilm and Pixar, both part of Disney, jointly agreed to pay $9 million.
Other parts of this antitrust litigation is still pending. Members of the class have rejected a proposed $325 million settlement proposed by Google, Adobe, Apple and other high tech companies.
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