Ask.com Hit With Wage-Fixing Class Action Lawsuit

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Yet another tech company has become embroiled in a wage-fixing class action lawsuit that allegedly spread from Silicon Valley to Hollywood. Ask.com is accused of colluding with Google regarding the hiring process for senior employees.

Lead plaintiff Robert Arriaga alleges that a secret agreement was in place between Google and Ask.com, now a subsidiary of InterActive Corp. The class action lawsuit argues that senior management at both companies would need to be informed of any employees at the opposite firm who are going through the interview process.

For example, under an “Executive Recruiting” section, the agreement allegedly stated, “[I]f we go to offer with a Director or above candidate, Staffing should inform [the executive management group] and [they] will designate a senior exec to place a courtesy call into the Sensitive company to let them know we have made an offer.” That reportedly affected the plaintiff because people who can manage groups of high-tech employees are allegedly in high demand and would otherwise be able to seek higher compensation.

Further the wage-fixing class action lawsuit alleges that “the intended and actual effect of the sensitive company agreement was to fix, chill, and otherwise suppress employee compensation, and impose unlawful restrictions on employee mobility. As a result, the class action lawsuit is seeking damages for violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act and California’s Cartwright Act.

Unlike similar class action lawsuits, however, this case alleges that there were no restrictions placed on employees that were more junior than directors.

In one of those cases, consolidated into multidistrict litigation, defendants including Intel, Google, Adobe, LucasFilm and others agreed to pay hundreds of million dollars in order to resolve similar allegations regarding employees of all levels. Similarly, plaintiffs alleged that there was no competition among these employers who represented a significant share of job providers in Silicon Valley and Hollywood.

While that class action settlement is on appeal, another is targeting companies who hired digital animators for movies. All stem from a Department of Justice investigation that found that the companies were acting in a collusive manner. It is unclear whether or not the reported conspiracy extends even further.

Arriaga is represented by Jeffrey L. Hogue, Tyler J. Belong and Bryce A. Dodds of Hogue & Belong.

The Silicon Valley Wage-Fixing Class Action Lawsuit is Robert Arriaga v. InterActiveCorp Inc., Case No. 5:14-cv-04656, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.