Apple and Google Accused of Playing The Godfather with Anti-Poaching Deals

Five technology companies, including Apple and Google, are set to face a lawsuit for claiming they violated a number of anti-trust laws.

Google, Apple, Intel, Adobe, Pixar, Intuit and Lucasfilm all stand accused of entering into illegal agreements pledging not to recruit each other's employees. If found guilty of the charges the companies could reportedly face damages amounting to hundreds of millions of pounds.

Worse still for the five, according to Bloomberg, US District Judge Lucy H. Koh in San Jose, California had clarified that even if the claims were dismissed, the plaintiffs would be given a chance to amend and refile their complaint.

"They still have an antitrust claim that's going forward so I don't want to see any obstruction on discovery," Bloomberg reported Koh as saying during a hearing.

The new action spells double trouble for search giant Google, which is currently caught in the middle of a slew of other lawsuits. Earlier in January Reuters revealed European regulators will decide whether to file a formal complaint against Google for misusing its market position.

"I will receive comments from the case team towards the end of the first quarter. I do not expect anything sooner. Let us see," Reuters reported EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia as saying earlier in January.

If filed, the complaint would have a wider impact on the company's long-running legal battle with competitors such as Apple and Oracle.

At the time of writing neither Google nor Apple had responded to the International Business Times UK's requests for comment.