Silicon Valley tech companies settle Justice Department inquiry into hiring practices

Tech companies settle DOJ hiring inquiry

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has reached an agreement with six major Silicon Valley companies over employee recruiting practices.

Friday’s settlement ends allegations that the companies colluded to keep salaries from skyrocketing by agreeing not to poach employees from each other.

The settlement names Google Inc., Apple Inc., Intel Corp., Adobe Systems Inc., Intuit Inc. and Walt Disney Corp.’s Pixar Animation Studios. It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The Justice Department was investigating whether the companies pledged not to use “cold calls” to recruit business partners’ employees, as part of their partnership agreements. The government was concerned that these promises amounted to a form of price-fixing collusion to avoid bidding wars for employees.