Apple CEO Tim Cook Ordered To 4 Hours of Questioning over Poaching

It might have kept out of the headlines lately, but the civil lawsuit against Apple and other companies over poaching gets more and more interesting. Judge Lucy Koh ordered Apple CEO Tim Cook to 4 hours of questioning over the poaching case, as she tries to figure out whether the case will be granted the class action status.

During Thursday’s hearing in the poaching case Apple, Google and other tech companies are investigated, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh ordered Apple CEO Tim Cook to four hours of questioning by plaintiff attorneys. Google’s own executive chairman, Eric Schmidt is likely going to get the same treatment by the end of next month, as the judge tries to ascertain if the poaching allegations will get class action status.

Apple and the rest of the companies involved in the civil lawsuit tried to make the poaching civil lawsuit disappear, but Judge Lucy Koh dismissed their request. During the Thursday hearing, the judge publicly criticized companies’ lawyers for not scheduling depositions of top executives earlier. Apple’s lawyers tried to argue that current CEO Tim Cook had nothing to do with the poaching agreement since it was before his time in this particular position.

“I find it hard to believe a COO would have no say over salary and compensation for all employees” the judge reacted, ordering Tim Cook to 4 hours of questioning.

Five former employees of tech companies filed a civil lawsuit against the top names in the IT industry today, including Apple and Google. The allegations claim that Apple, Google, Intel and several other such big companies have entered an agreement to eliminate competition for each other’s employees. Basically, in their agreement not to compete over each other’s employees Apple, Google, Intel, Pixar, Adobe, Intuit and Lucasfilm kept paycheck levels low and made sure their employees did not enjoy normal mobility in the labor market.

The no-hire poaching agreement Silicon Valley’s top companies have abided by over the past few years was the subject of a 2010 investigation by the Department of Justice. It was soon that all these companies announced they have entered an agreement to stop the poaching practice, but had not compensated the employees affected by their off-the-table deal. However, if Judge Lucy Koh decides the civil lawsuit stands ground to become a class action status, former employees could really rip the benefits of a more significant damage.