A class action lawsuit against Apple, Google and other tech companies for agreeing not to poach each other’s employees has finally been settled. Steve Jobs, Google’s Eric Schmidt and others had agreed in emails not to offer higher salaries to each other’s employees in order to reduce the risk of losing valuable employees. When the emails came to light, the 64,000 employees affected successfully argued that this had limited their earning potential.

After Apple’s originally settlement offers were rejected by Judge Lucy Koh as inadequate, the company increased its offer to $415M, which the judge agreed was fair. Reuters reports that Koh has now granted final approval of this sum.

Koh did, however, reject the $81M cut the lawyers in the case had demanded …

Koh decided such an award would be an inappropriate “windfall” for the lawyers, and awarded about $40 million instead.

It’s of course not the first time that emails from Steve Jobs have gotten Apple into trouble. Such emails formed key evidence in both ebook and iPod antitrust cases.

Image: NLM Studios

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news: