A class-action lawsuit against hiring practices at Adobe, Apple, Google, and Intel was set to settle shortly before trial for $324 million. The companies are accused of violating antitrust laws by creating "no poach" deals in which they wouldn't cold call each other's employees for recruitment purposes.

Last month, US District Judge Lucy Koh threw out the settlement, agreeing with objectors from the class that $324 million wasn't enough. The companies should have paid out "at least $380 million" to match the rate paid by other companies that had already settled, including Lucasfilm, Intuit, and Pixar.

But the four remaining defendants don't want to pay more, and they're going to fight for the $324 million deal they struck with lawyers representing the plaintiffs.

Koh "impermissibly substituted the court's assessment of the value of the case for that of the parties who have been litigating the case for more than three years," the companies wrote in an appeal brief, according to Reuters.

The affected workers claimed the "no poach" deal led to their wages being illegally suppressed. Had the case gone to trial, it would have made public e-mails detailing elements of the plan going up to the top ranks of the four defendant companies. E-mails from former Apple CEO Steve Jobs and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt were among the evidence.