3 ms·

Yup. This type of stuff is a major no-no and is taught as such in pretty much every entry-level econ and business class. All of these executives know better and

Yup. This type of stuff is a major no-no and is taught as such in pretty much every entry-level econ and business class. All of these executives know better and were simply trying to skirt the system. There's going to be a huge settlement over this.

hga 13y ago
And significant recognition of the issue goes back to at least 1776's The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith: "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices."
- pekk 13y ago
  Those awful unions. Oh well, back to illegally depressing wages
tinco 13y ago
I don't know the U.S. justice system really well, but from the e-mail it seems E. Schmidt was aware of the illegality of their actions, being worried about being sued and a paper trail. Doesn't that make this an 'aware' and 'intentional' crime, therefore the only resolution would be for him to go to prison for some time? Is it really possible for someone to settle their way out of this with a general prosecutor?
hisabness 13y ago
who will the settlement be with? i.e. who will get the monies?
- bradleyjg 13y ago
  I believe there were settlements with the Justice Department, there's also a pending class action lawsuit. The class is all of the employees of the relevant companies during the relevant time period. (I.e. Apple, Intel, Google, Intuit, Pixar, Lucasfilm and Adobe technical employees from 2005 through 2009.) Unfortunately, the US class action system is somewhat corrupt and in many cases the suing attorneys get the lion's share of the money, while the class members get injunctive relief, a coupon, or a nominal payment. Or sometimes they get nothing at all, and a charity gets the money (this is called a cy pres award). More information about the class action lawsuit: https://www.hightechemployeelawsuit.com https://www.hightechemployeelawsuit.com
- wavefunction 13y ago
  Bradley laid it out well, but I would go even farther. This million employees had significant wage suppression effects for the _entire_ market, not just the employees that were working at the firms in question.

hga 13y ago

And significant recognition of the issue goes back to at least 1776's The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith: "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices."

pekk 13y ago
Those awful unions. Oh well, back to illegally depressing wages

tinco 13y ago

I don't know the U.S. justice system really well, but from the e-mail it seems E. Schmidt was aware of the illegality of their actions, being worried about being sued and a paper trail. Doesn't that make this an 'aware' and 'intentional' crime, therefore the only resolution would be for him to go to prison for some time? Is it really possible for someone to settle their way out of this with a general prosecutor?

hisabness 13y ago

who will the settlement be with? i.e. who will get the monies?

bradleyjg 13y ago
I believe there were settlements with the Justice Department, there's also a pending class action lawsuit. The class is all of the employees of the relevant companies during the relevant time period. (I.e. Apple, Intel, Google, Intuit, Pixar, Lucasfilm and Adobe technical employees from 2005 through 2009.) Unfortunately, the US class action system is somewhat corrupt and in many cases the suing attorneys get the lion's share of the money, while the class members get injunctive relief, a coupon, or a nominal payment. Or sometimes they get nothing at all, and a charity gets the money (this is called a cy pres award). More information about the class action lawsuit: https://www.hightechemployeelawsuit.com https://www.hightechemployeelawsuit.com
wavefunction 13y ago
Bradley laid it out well, but I would go even farther. This million employees had significant wage suppression effects for the _entire_ market, not just the employees that were working at the firms in question.