Apple, Google, Adobe, and Intel made headlines three weeks ago when they agreed to a combined $415 million settlement for thousands of Silicon Valley workers who claimed in a lawsuit that their wages were not as high as they should have been because of illegal non-compete agreements between the tech giants. Citing evidence from that litigation, Google shareholders filed suit Monday against Google’s board of directors, claiming that the no-poaching “handshake” agreements alleged among the companies also depressed Google’s stock.
The West Palm Beach Pension Fund claims that the anti-competitive practice burned shareholders because it made it harder for talented workers to change companies, according to the suit (PDF) filed in San Jose federal court.
“Google has lost out on many of the best and brightest high-tech employees, thereby resulting in lost opportunities for innovation in a company that is wholly dependent on such innovation,” the suit said. It continued:
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