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U.S. judge approves $415M settlement in tech worker lawsuit

reuters.com

41–50 of 73 posts

Re: U.S. judge approves $415M settlement in tech worker lawsuit

#41
post #3

This conspiracy is by far the most intentionally evil thing tech companies have ever been caught doing. Also the worst thing Steve Jobs did in his life.

It goes to show that for all the lofty dreams of Silicon Valley, technology, in the end, does not make the world kinder or fairer - just more convenient.

Re: U.S. judge approves $415M settlement in tech worker lawsuit

#42
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cartels are dynamically unstable. That doesn't mean they can't cause a net social loss during the period in which they are effective.

I looked at some of the articles on this particular cartel. I didn't see evidence presented that employees of the cartel were compensated less than employees at other tech companies. While there is no doubt there was an illegal cartel, I'm skeptical that it was an effective cartel.

I don't know about this cartel specifically. I'm making an economic point about cartels generally.

Re: U.S. judge approves $415M settlement in tech worker lawsuit

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

25% is a rather "normal" attorney fee award. You can argue they shouldn't get that much but remember that they have to eat the cost of prosecuting the case for a long time before seeing a dime. EDIT: I don't get the harsh downvoting. I'm unfamiliar with the particulars of the case but remember that not all class-actions end favourably for the lawyers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Civil_Action

How much of a financial hit do they really take? Apart from their salaries and associated office costs (covered by past cases presumably) what other costs do they have? Their only excuse is that most businesses do the same thing. Payment processors, freelance agencies, telecoms providers etc, all taking extortionate cuts in relation to the costs incurred providing a service, which comes from our paychecks.

[deleted]

Re: U.S. judge approves $415M settlement in tech worker lawsuit

#44
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jobs was a scumbag through and through... just one more check mark on stupid shit rich business people and their respective corporations can get away with in America most of the time. Even now it's a small sum for these companies, a few thousand dollars a person, much less than the actual pay lost due to corruption. A few billion each would've actually sent a message and actually set the victims whole. Funny how the…

25% is a rather "normal" attorney fee award. You can argue they shouldn't get that much but remember that they have to eat the cost of prosecuting the case for a long time before seeing a dime. EDIT: I don't get the harsh downvoting. I'm unfamiliar with the particulars of the case but remember that not all class-actions end favourably for the lawyers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Civil_Action

Lot's of "good" cases go sideways. This case could have easily gone that way. To prove causation and damages, you need economic models. The defense has their own experts with their own models showing that the attempted collusion as ineffective at actually suppressing salaries. If your jury buys that, you get $0, even if you have a notarized affidavit from a CEO saying he tried to suppress wages.

Re: U.S. judge approves $415M settlement in tech worker lawsuit

#45
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Staggering? I'd call it a pittance. The companies should've been fined much more to make an example out of them so no tech firm attempts something like this again.

Pretty sure thats a sarcastic use of the word staggering

That's what it sounded like to me as well.

Re: U.S. judge approves $415M settlement in tech worker lawsuit

#46
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jobs was a scumbag through and through... just one more check mark on stupid shit rich business people and their respective corporations can get away with in America most of the time. Even now it's a small sum for these companies, a few thousand dollars a person, much less than the actual pay lost due to corruption. A few billion each would've actually sent a message and actually set the victims whole. Funny how the…

25% is a rather "normal" attorney fee award. You can argue they shouldn't get that much but remember that they have to eat the cost of prosecuting the case for a long time before seeing a dime. EDIT: I don't get the harsh downvoting. I'm unfamiliar with the particulars of the case but remember that not all class-actions end favourably for the lawyers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Civil_Action

Actually, for contingency fees, 40% or 50% is not all that unusual.

Re: U.S. judge approves $415M settlement in tech worker lawsuit

#47

Surprisingly uninformative article! If I recall correctly per-person damages are staggering $6500.

Staggering? I'd call it a pittance. The companies should've been fined much more to make an example out of them so no tech firm attempts something like this again.

It's like getting caught stealing and you only have to payback the money you stole. Zero incentive to stop stealing.

Re: U.S. judge approves $415M settlement in tech worker lawsuit

#48
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jobs was a scumbag through and through... just one more check mark on stupid shit rich business people and their respective corporations can get away with in America most of the time. Even now it's a small sum for these companies, a few thousand dollars a person, much less than the actual pay lost due to corruption. A few billion each would've actually sent a message and actually set the victims whole. Funny how the…

Jobs was far from perfect. However, his contributions _far_ outweigh all his transgressions. The iPhone has (and will) ushered in an era of unimaginable prosperity for, in the coming years, literally the entire planet. Whether or not his work could have been achieved without his faults is an open question. One which the counter factual isn't possible. The key thing to remember is that there are no solutions, only tra…

Yeah, I'm so happy that Apple popularized the walled-garden approach to selling hardware and software. Now everybody is trying to get in on it and instead of owning my stuff and being able share it and run it wherever I want, I'm locked into Steve Jobs' money pit.

Re: U.S. judge approves $415M settlement in tech worker lawsuit

#49
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm still pissed at Google for falling into this. From a company that prides itself on not being evil, it was clearly an evil practice. I'm not too pissed though. I understand Steve had his distortion bubble and Larry had stars in his eyes. It's sad to see the integrity break down. It makes me not trust Google to always do the right thing because I don't trust Larry to.

"Don't be evil" is just a slogan. Same as any other company's slogan. There isn't any integrity to begin with unless there's a market incentive for it, and there isn't.

I like to think they were just being sarcastic.

Re: U.S. judge approves $415M settlement in tech worker lawsuit

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am more disturbed at the greed behind the original injustice. The tech companies should be punished, the greed of the plaintiffs is completely irrelevant.

Why is it greed if a walmart worker was being stiffed of a dollar an hour its just as bad as a sales guy losing 20% of a five figure bonus.

Walmart workers and stiffed tech workers have more in common than the "masters of the universe" who rule them both.
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