Samsung, LG are going to court as defendants over an alleged anti-poaching agreement

By Christian de Looper Published September 12, 2016

top tech stories 01 20 2017 samsung corp head — Flickr/Samsung

Samsung is being dragged to court once again, but this time, it’s not going up against a large tech company but rather going to court alongside a competitor — LG. The two companies are accused of agreeing to an anti-poaching arrangement in the U.S., according to a civil lawsuit filed last week.

The lawsuit suggests the two companies agreed not to poach each other’s U.S. employees and was first filed by an LG sales manager in northern California.

Recommended Videos

Neither Samsung nor LG has made any comment on the case, but the evidence against them appears to be mounting. According to the plaintiff, A. Frost, a recruiter reached out to him via LinkedIn in 2013, asking him to consider filling a position at Samsung. That recruiter then followed up with another message the same day.

“I made a mistake! I’m not supposed to poach LG for Samsung!!! Sorry! The two companies have an agreement that they won’t steal each other’s employees,” the message said, according to a report from Reuters.

The lawsuit goes on to say that it is “implausible” that such an agreement was made between the two companies without the knowledge of their corporate parents in South Korea. A specific amount of damages was not stated in the suit.

Of course, the lawsuit might remind you of a similar one that was filed against Apple, Google, and a number of other large tech companies last year that was eventually settled for $415 million. According to the plaintiffs, this anti-poaching agreement was made in an effort to keep wages relatively low, and centers around emails sent from Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs to Google executive Eric Schmidt, which said that Google was “relentlessly recruiting” from Apple’s iPod team, and asked for the poaching to stop.

Topics

Christian de Looper

Contributor

Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…

Business

Intuit QuickBooks summer savings have us excited for bookkeeping and more

Intuit QuickBooks Online and Payroll Indepence Day deals used by business owner

Being honest, accounting, bookkeeping, and various administrative tasks aren't exactly what most people would call exciting, even if they own a business. It's something you have to do, but not that you necessarily want to do. But you absolutely have to stay on top of it; otherwise, things could get out of hand later, like when you're filing taxes or trying to calculate expenses. As a leader in small business fintech, Intuit QuickBooks is helping over 7 million customers worldwide do precisely that. From a startup to scaling up, the Intuit QuickBooks ecosystem delivers products and services that are a core component of small business growth. Accounting, payroll, payments, capital, and even marketing assistance via Mailchimp are just a few examples of what you can expect from a QuickBooks subscription. Thanks to its current Summer Sale, you can save a never-before-seen 70% off Intuit QuickBooks plans. That offer and these prices excite us for something that, typically, wouldn't be considered exciting.

These Intuit QuickBooks Summer Savings are unprecedented
This is the first time we've ever seen prices this low, and it may actually be the only time it happens. Time will tell, but the point is that you can save big on QuickBooks plans that you need for your business. The deal offers 70% off QuickBooks Online for your first three months. With Simple Start -- the base plan -- you get your first three months for just $9 per month instead of $30. That saves you $21 monthly for $63 across your initial three months of service. By comparison, the Essentials tier is only $18 per month instead of $60, and the Plus tier is only $27 per month instead of $90. If you want to splurge and go with Advanced, it's only $60 monthly for your first three months instead of $20h. Those are some incredible savings.

Branded Content

Grammarly should be your next AI writing partner for all things text

Grammarly-featured-image-with-creative

Not everyone is a writer, and that's okay. However, we do a lot of writing throughout our lives, from essays and school papers to dissertations, work reports, letters, emails, and beyond. Even with the advent of digital platforms, there's still a lot of writing to be done. But some tools can help significantly, like Grammarly.

Despite what the name espouses, Grammarly helps you with a whole lot more than just basic writing structure and grammar. That's thanks to an integrated AI writing assistant that can enhance your writing skills and improve the quality of the content you create. You'll get real-time suggestions about grammar, spelling errors, punctuation, and style. Ultimately, that leads to better writing from you with the complete confidence and clarity of a skilled artisan. Let's take a closer look at what Grammarly has to offer, well, everyone.

Computing

What is Microsoft Teams? How to use the collaboration app

A close-up of someone using Microsoft Teams on a laptop for a videoconference.

Online team collaboration is the new norm as companies spread their workforce across the globe. Gone are the days of primarily relying on group emails, as teams can now work together in real time using an instant chat-style interface, no matter where they are.

Using Microsoft Teams affords video conferencing, real-time discussions, document sharing and editing, and more for companies and corporations. It's one of many collaboration tools designed to bring company workers together in an online space. It’s not designed for communicating with family and friends, but for colleagues and clients.