Legal News

Breaking News: DOJ Trustbusters Probing Big Tech?s Hiring Practices

By Ashby Jones

Yes, it seems, a new era of big trustbusting has officially begun. Just in: The Washington Post is reporting that the DOJ has begun an investigation into whether some of the nation’s largest technology companies violated antitrust laws by negotiating the recruiting and hiring of one another’s employees. The Post cites two sources familiar with the situation.

According to the Post, the review is in its preliminary stages, and is focused on some technology heavies, including Google, Yahoo, Apple, and Genentech, among others. Justice Department officials declined to comment about the investigation to the Post, as did officials from Google and Yahoo. Apple and Genentech could not be reached by the Post for comment.

By agreeing not to hire away top talent, the companies could be stifling competition and trying to maintain their market power unfairly, antitrust experts said.

“This could be collusive restraint on trade, which could have a serious impact on competition,” said Albert Foer, president of the American Antitrust Institute.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on June 03, 2009 (boomark / email).