[paulgb]

If the companies had a contractual agreement that their recruiting agency would block each other's employees from applying, that sounds like a non-poaching agreement of the sort that Apple and Google were fined hundreds of millions for.

[JackFr]

I'm pretty sure they weren't fined. I believe they were sued and settled with no admission of wrongdoing.

[paulgb]

Ah, you're right, I was mixing up the DOJ action (not involving a fine) circa 2010 with a later civil suit [1]. In any case, it cost them hundreds of millions.

1. https://venturebeat.com/2014/05/23/4-tech-companies-are-payi... (adding to the confusion, Venture Beat incorrectly calls it a fine)