Fenwick Employment Brief (05/11/12)

Following a settlement between the U.S. Department of Justice and seven prominent technology companies regarding the companies’ conduct in agreeing not to cold call employees of the other companies, a class of software engineers filed a civil lawsuit against the same companies for alleged antitrust violations. The employers claimed that the plaintiffs could not establish facts evidencing a conspiracy to suppress wages and moved to dismiss the claims. The court, however, determined that the plaintiffs alleged sufficient facts to support their claims, so the antitrust claims survived dismissal and the case continues.