谷歌蘋果等四巨頭4.15億美元了結“互不挖角”案

　　Four of the world's biggest tech giants -Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe - have agreed to a new settlement of $415m in an attempt to resolve a lawsuit. The US lawsuit alleged the firms agreed not to poach staff from each other.

　　四家全球最大科技巨頭公司——蘋果、谷歌、英特爾和Adobe——已同意達成一項4.15億美元的新和解協議，以了結一起指控這些公司達成互不挖角協議的訴訟案。（英國廣播公司）

　　The 2011 US case had claimed $3bn in damages on behalf of more than 64,000 workers at the four firms. It claimed the alleged agreement prevented workers from getting better job offers elsewhere.

　　這起訴訟于2011年由四家公司逾64000名員工聯合提起，指控上述公司達成的協議阻止其員工另謀高就，造成了30億美元的損失。（英國廣播公司）

　　上述公司員工指控其僱主制定了“互不挖角”政策，其中包括了蘋果已故聯合創始人喬布斯。他們在訴訟書中指出，通過“互不挖角”協議的簽署，這家公司成功地壓制了員工的工資，並且其人事部門擁有數不盡的“互不挖角”小計謀，如“不打電話”清單、不回復郵件清單以及內部通訊錄。

　　The lawsuit, which was based largely on emails between some executives of the tech firms, has been watched with much interest for details about the alleged pact.According to some reports,one email exchange cited in the lawsuit shows Eric Schmidt, former chief executive of Google, telling Steve Jobs the former boss of Apple, that a Google recruiter who solicited an Apple employee would be fired.

　　這起訴訟案的主要取證根據是四家公司高管的郵件往來。外界對訴訟案中指控的不挖角協議的細節極為關注。根據部分報道，該訴案引用的其中一份郵件往來顯示，谷歌前首席執行官艾瑞克·施密特告知蘋果前首席執行官史蒂夫·喬布斯，雇傭蘋果員工的谷歌職工將被解雇。（英國廣播公司）

　　The antitrust lawsuit alleges that by agreeing not to hire one another's employees,the tech companies were able to retain talent without paying higher wages.The four companies had reached a settlement agreement worth $324.5 million with the plaintiffs'lawyers early last year, but it was thrown out by the federal judge overseeing the case after one of the plaintiffs complained the figure was too low.

　　此次反壟斷調查指控上述科技公司聯合承諾不雇傭對方公司的員工，因此在無須支付更高額薪水的前提下留住本公司員工。去年早些時候，這四家公司與原告律師團達成了一項3.245億美元的和解協議，但後因其中一名原告控訴和解金額過低而被聯邦法官否決。（國際商業時報）

　　Under the new proposal, workers would receive an average of about $5,000, after attorneys’ fees. Awards will vary based on an employee’s total pay at one or more of the defendant companies during the period. Under the original proposal,the average award would have been less than $4,000, after attorneys’ fees. The new deal caps fees for the attorneys of the class at $81 million, or 25% of the prior settlement amount.

　　根據此次新的和解協議，在支付律師費後，相關員工將平均得到約5000美元的賠償，具體賠償數額將依據受僱員工在指控其間于被告公司獲得的總收入而變化。根據原先的和解協議，在除去律師費後員工獲得的平均賠償少於4000美元。此項新和解協議規定支付給訴訟律師的費用上限為8100萬美元，約為此前協議的25%。（《華爾街日報》）

　　In the filing, the companies denied wrongdoing. “We deny any allegations of wrongdoing and we elected to settle this matter to avoid the risks, burdens, and uncertainties of ongoing litigation,” said Chuck Mulloy, a spokesman for Intel.

　　涉案公司在訴訟文件中否認曾有違法行為。英特爾發言人查克·馬洛伊表示，“我們否認任何關於違法行為的指控，並已決定解決此事，以規避風險、負擔和正在進行的法律程式的不確定性。”（華爾街日報）

　　The proposed settlement between the workers and Apple Inc., Google Inc., Intel Corp. and Adobe Systems Inc. now must be approved by a U.S. District judge in San Jose, Calif. Without a new settlement, a trial in the case is scheduled to start on April 10.

　　此次四家公司與其員工的最新和解協議還需獲得美國加州聖何塞地方法官的批准。若無此項最新和解協議，此案原定於4月10日開庭審判。（華爾街日報）

　　（廖冰清 編譯）