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Apple, Google settle U.S. poaching lawsuit for $415 million

A customer is silhouetted while entering the Fifth Avenue Apple store shortly after doors opened for iPhone 6 sales in Manhattan, New York September 19, 2014. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Four Silicon Valley companies including Apple Inc and Google Inc agreed to pay $415 million to resolve an antitrust class action lawsuit by tech workers who accused the firms of conspiring to avoid poaching each other's employees, according to a court filing on Thursday. Plaintiffs accused Apple, Google, Intel Corp and Adobe Systems Inc in the 2011 lawsuit of limiting job mobility and, as a result, keeping a lid on salaries. The settlement is $90.5 million more than a previous deal which a U.S. judge rejected last year as too low. (Reporting by Dan Levine; Editing by Christian Plumb)