Skip to main content

Talking Schmidt: Disgusted and Embarrassed by leaks

The massive employee wage-fixing antitrust lawsuit between several Silicon Valley companies is only getting more interesting. An email exchange involving former Google CEO Eric Schmidt surfaced last week, shining light on Mountain View’s attempt to prevent Facebook from poaching its employees. 

The exchange begins with this email sent from Vijay Gill, then an engineering manager at Google, to former senior Google engineering executive Bill Coughran and human resources executive Ivan Ernest. In a gist, it appears that Google employees had received word one of the one-hour counter-offer window.

According to Quartz, Coughran passed along the email to Google’s executive management group, noting that “it seems that EMG discussions leak quickly.”

Enter an enraged Eric Schmidt, replying to the email hours later that Google should be “embarrassed and disgusted” that the information was leaked just 24 hours after he announced the one-hour window.

Google now finds itself in the courtroom for these wage-fixing allegations, agreeing to a $324 million settlement.

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

You’re reading 9to5Google — experts who break news about Google and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Google on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Manage push notifications

notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications
notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications