Microsoft Defeats Wage Suppression Class Action On Statute Of Limitations Grounds

Two former employees sued Microsoft Corporation (“Microsoft”) in a class action, alleging that it unlawfully suppressed their wages by entering into multiple employee non-solicitation agreements with its competitors. The case – Ryan, et al. v. Microsoft Corp., No. 14-CV-4634 (N.D. Cal.) – was spawned by the same U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) investigation that eventually resulted in several class action wage suppression antitrust suits brought against a number of Silicon Valley technology companies. In those cases, Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California eventually approved settlements totaling $435 million. In Re High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation, No. 11-CV-02508, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 118051, at *12-13 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 2, 2015). In Ryan however, Judge Koh concluded that plaintiffs delayed too long before filing suit and dismissed all counts of their First Amended Complaint with prejudice. Ryan v. Microsoft Corp., 14-CV-04634, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158944 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 23, 2015).

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