<p>US authorities sued online retail giant eBay, claiming it was part of a conspiracy with software maker Intuit to refrain from hiring each other’s employees to keep salaries under control.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The civil antitrust lawsuit said eBay violated antitrust laws in an agreement not to recruit or hire Intuit employees, the Justice Department said.<br /><br />The suit claims then-eBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman and Intuit founder Scott Cook agreed to the plan, which “deprived these employees of better job opportunities.”<br /><br />Officials said it was not necessary to name Intuit in the complaint because the company had previously been named in a September 2010 lawsuit and settlement, which bars Intuit from entering into these types of agreements.<br /><br />In the earlier case, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division filed suit against six big tech firms — Adobe Systems, Apple, Google, Intel, Intuit and Pixar — over a series of bilateral agreements not to solicit each other’s employees.<br /><br /> All six companies entered into a settlement that prohibited them from these practices. The eBay case grew out of the same investigation.<br /><br /> The suit alleges that Whitman, and Cook, Intuit’s Founder and Executive Committee Chair, were “intimately involved in forming, monitoring and enforcing the anticompetitive agreement.” <br /><br />A class-action lawsuit on behalf of affected employees is proceeding in California on the matter against Apple, Google, Pixar and others. </p>
<p>US authorities sued online retail giant eBay, claiming it was part of a conspiracy with software maker Intuit to refrain from hiring each other’s employees to keep salaries under control.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The civil antitrust lawsuit said eBay violated antitrust laws in an agreement not to recruit or hire Intuit employees, the Justice Department said.<br /><br />The suit claims then-eBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman and Intuit founder Scott Cook agreed to the plan, which “deprived these employees of better job opportunities.”<br /><br />Officials said it was not necessary to name Intuit in the complaint because the company had previously been named in a September 2010 lawsuit and settlement, which bars Intuit from entering into these types of agreements.<br /><br />In the earlier case, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division filed suit against six big tech firms — Adobe Systems, Apple, Google, Intel, Intuit and Pixar — over a series of bilateral agreements not to solicit each other’s employees.<br /><br /> All six companies entered into a settlement that prohibited them from these practices. The eBay case grew out of the same investigation.<br /><br /> The suit alleges that Whitman, and Cook, Intuit’s Founder and Executive Committee Chair, were “intimately involved in forming, monitoring and enforcing the anticompetitive agreement.” <br /><br />A class-action lawsuit on behalf of affected employees is proceeding in California on the matter against Apple, Google, Pixar and others. </p>