Apple co-founder Steve Jobs threatened to file a patent lawsuit against Palm if the company didn’t agree to stop hiring Apple employees, a new court filing has confirmed. The filing is part of a civil lawsuit filed by workers against Apple, Google, Intel, Adobe, Disney’s Pixar, Intuit, and Lucasfilm, which claims the companies agreed not to recruit each other’s employees, in violation of laws designed to protect employees against restrictive hiring practices.
In a statement, former Palm CEO Edward Colligan said that Jobs called him in August 2007 regarding Palm’s hiring of Apple employees. Jobs also sent an email advising Colligan to “take a look at our patent portfolio before you make a final decision here,” bullying that Colligan allegedly rebuffed based on its alleged illegality.
The document suggests that Palm’s hiring of Apple employees for a new Jon Rubenstein project was Jobs’ primary concern; former Apple SVP Rubenstein went on to develop the Pre phone and TouchPad tablet for Palm and later owner HP. Other communications and internal documents, including no-hire lists, have also been revealed in the case.
