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Ninth Circuit Denies Review of District Court's Class Certification Order in High-Tech Employee Antitrust LitigationSAN FRANCISCO --(Business Wire)-- Kelly M. Dermody of the national plaintiffs' law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, announced that today the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied review of the district court's order certifying a class of technical employees who worked at seven high-tech companies-including Adobe (News - Alert), Apple, Google, and Intel-from approximately 2005 through 2009. As a result, the class certification order stands. On October 24, 2013, U.S. District Court Judge Lucy H. Koh granted class certification in a class action charging that Adobe, Apple, Google (News - Alert), Intel, and other large tech companies conspired to suppress the pay of their technical employees, including by agreeing not to actively recruit each other's employees. In a comprehensive, 86-page ordr, the Court found that, "based on the extensive documentary evidence, economic theory, data, and expert statistical modeling, Plaintiffs' methodology demonstrates that common issues are likely to predominate over individual issues." On November 7, 2013, Defendants sought permission from the Ninth Circuit to appeal Judge Koh's class certification order. Plaintiffs opposed the request. Today, the Ninth Circuit denied Defendants' request for permission to appeal: "The court, in its discretion, denies the petition for permission to appeal the district court's October 24, 2013 order granting class action certification." "We appreciate the Ninth Circuit's review of Judge Koh's class certification order, and we look forward to seeking justice for the class at trial," said Kelly M. Dermody, a partner at Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann and Bernstein, LLP, and Co-Lead Class Counsel. Trial is set to begin on May 27, 2014. The case is In re: High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation, Case 5:11-cv-02509-LHK (N.D. Cal). For more information on the litigation, please visit our website.
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