Steve Jobs was 'central figure' in Silicon Valley hiring case, judge says

[OhioChick]

Source: IDG News Service

Aug 8, 2014 8:56 PM PT

In rejecting a proposed settlement in Silicon Valley's closely watched "no hire" case, District Judge Lucy Koh said on Friday there's strong evidence that Steve Jobs was a central figure, if not "the" central figure, in the alleged conspiracy to suppress workers' wages.

The case involves allegations that seven of Silicon Valley's biggest companies, including Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe Systems, had secret agreements in place not to poach each others' workers. That would be a violation of the Sherman Antitrust act and would limit the chance for workers to increase their salaries by switching jobs.

Last year, three of the accused companies -- Intuit, Lucasfilm and Pixar -- settled the case by paying damages to the affected class of workers. The other four companies fought on, until in April they reached a separate settlement that required Judge Koh's approval.

She refused to approve it on Friday, saying the amount was too low. The proposed settlement is for US$324.5 million, but once the attorneys collect their fees of about $81 million, the workers each would get only $3,750.

Read more: http://www.computerworld.com/article/2491016/it-personnel/steve-jobs-was--central-figure--in-silicon-valley-hiring-case--judge-says.html

[roguevalley]

1. saint steve was an asshole? quelle surprise

[LiberalArkie]

2. Hell, just about all the smart people are assholes. Edison comes to mind first

I think it goes with the personality type. "I don't care if you have to work 24 hours a day and never see your family. I want it done" type attitude.

[itsrobert]

3. And here come the Jobs apologists

"...smart people are assholes."

No excuse for being an asshole to workers.

[TM99]

4. No, that is just not true.

I work with lots of smart men and women. I teach lots of smart men and women. I grew up around lots of smart men and women.

Smart people are not assholes.

Steve Jobs was not that smart. He was savvy and manipulative. He was a classic narcissist and psychopath. He was vengeful, rageful, and a monster to work for. He stole from friends. He lied. Seeing that he was the central figure in this illegal action comes as zero surprise to anyone who knew him, worked for him, or just paid attention to him through out his career.

[MaggieD]

5. +1

[bananas]

12. What Kind of Buddhist was Steve Jobs, Really?

Lots of good comments.
From 2011: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=214x313758

[Dont call me Shirley]

13. A fake one

[MaggieD]

6. Jobs was definitely an asshole

But I'm not sure how you make the leap that he was an asshole because he was smart. Or that smart people in general are assholes. Is Rachael Maddow an asshole? How about Noam Chomsky or FDR?

Sometimes people are just assholes and it has nothing to do with any other attribute except being an asshole.

[LiberalArkie]

11. I am sorry I define a smart person as being different than an intelligent person.

A person can be smart and not be intelligent. I have always thought of people who find different ways of doing things and doing them better as being smart. Edison did not come up the idea of lighting a dark area he just did it better than with gas and candles. Marconi did not come up with wireless transmissions he just made it more functional. Gates did not come up with the idea of a disk operating system or basic, he just made it more user friendly and marketable. Larry Ellison did not come up with the concept of databases, he just made systems that could handle very large amounts of information. Were these people intelligent? I really do not think so. Not like I consider Rachael intelligent. They were just smart. And in my point of view all assholes.

And I do not consider Rachael or intelligent people assholes, even if they are intelligent conservatives.

[cascadiance]

16. Jobs seems to take credit for a lot of things that he didn't really create himself...

For example, he basically "moved in" on the Macintosh project that was started by Jef Raskin, and took it over, so everyone seems to think that it was Jobs that "created it". Perhaps he brought it to market and helped drive the project to make it successful, but this project and many other things he worked on, he wasn't the original "innovator" for. He should probably be credited though for recognizing the value of many different technologies at their nascent stages to "take them over" when he did and help make them successful.

http://webserver.computoredge.com/online.mvc?zone=na&issue=2314&article=cover&session=

[PosterChild]

10. Being smart isn't a "personality type". (nt)

[La Lioness Priyanka]

7. jobs was a well known asshole. a really good product and vision, but a pretty shitty guy

[pnwmom]

8. Non-compete employment contracts do much the same thing. They should be illegal everywhere,

as they are in California. (But they're legal in most places.)

It's one thing to prohibit an employee from taking work product to another employer. It's another to prevent them from practicing their profession for six months or even a year or longer in the same state.

[Todays_Illusion]

9. Oh DU, how you disappoint me, Steve Jobs, and the internet kings all libertarian.

Libertarian means, fleece that free market labor.

Simple.

[Dont call me Shirley]

14. Reminds me of Chevron's "Human Energy" commercial. Chilling, just chilling.

[tomm2thumbs]

15. the behind-the-scenes Jobs sounded like a complete self-serving taker - pathetic

After reading the whole article, I hope the lawsuit bleeds dry whatever fair amount they deem from the companies involved. Scum who run the companies and who were directly involved should be fired. (at least those still among the living)

Conspiracy is what comes to mind when I read this.

[closeupready]

18. More cartel than conspiracy, IMO.

[closeupready]

17. Not surprised at this in the least. He was a deadbeat dad,

and had to actually lose in court before he agreed to pay child support.

[Demonaut]

19. karma got him