UPDATE-The Employees Strike Back: High-Tech Giants Increase Settlement Offer in Wage-Fixing Suit
As discussed in my prior blog post, Google, Apple, Intel and Adobe stand accused of conspiring not to poach one another’s employees in order to keep wages down. 
Attorneys representing the class-action employees agreed to settle the case for $324 million, but one of the employees objected that the settlement was too low, essentially accusing the plaintiff attorneys of selling out the class. The judge agreed and rejected the settlement.
Defendants have now increased the settlement offer to $451 million, but they will need to wait and see if any of the plaintiffs object or if the Court determines the offer is still insufficient. After all, plaintiffs claim defendants’ anti-poaching scheme cost the 64,000 class members a total of $3 billion in reduced wages, and a jury could treble that amount to $9 billion. The evidence, damning email and memos describing the anti-poaching conspiracy and a need to cover up the conspiracy, dictate that defendants must settle. The only question is how much they must pay for the court to determine the settlement is fair.