SomeAmong other stories via Google, some major companies lost a 2015 civil lawsuit brought by their employees: Apple, Google, others settle antipoaching lawsuit for $415 million - CNET
Filed by former employees of the companies involved, the lawsuit shed a light on the practice of some major tech industry players of allegedly working together to agree not to poach employees from each other. The affected employees had argued that such agreements limited their ability to rise up in the industry and stifled their attempts to earn higher salaries.
And the US DOJ prosecutes, too: No More No-Poach: The Antitrust Division Continues to Investigate and Prosecute “No-Poach” and Wage-Fixing Agreements:
The Antitrust Division protects labor markets and employees by actively pursuing investigations into so-called “no-poach” and wage-fixing agreements between employers. When companies agree not to hire or recruit one another’s employees, they are agreeing not to compete for those employees’ labor. The same rules apply when employers compete for talent in labor markets as when they compete to sell goods and services.