Suit says tech titans fixed worker pay

SAN FRANCISCO—A former Lucasfilm software engineer is suing the movie studio along with Silicon Valley technology titans for what he portrayed as a conspiracy to curb pay for workers.

A suit filed on behalf of Siddarth Hariharan in a California state court on Wednesday contended that the accused firms and perhaps as many as 200 more illegally fixed workers pay by agreeing not to recruit talent from one another.

The suit listed named defendants as Adobe, Apple, Google, Intel, Intuit, Lucasfilm, and Pixar.

The companies reached a deal last year with the US Department of Justice over potential competition-crimping implications of agreements not to poach key workers from each other, the suit noted.

The settlement included the companies agreeing to not ban efforts to woo employees and left the door open for civil litigation, according to court documents.

Hariharan asked that his suit be given class-action status to represent all employees who might have benefited if the market for talent had not been fettered by “Do Not Cold Call” agreements.

The suit calls for companies to pay restitution as well as unspecified damages and legal fees.