Apple, Google, Intel, Adobe Increase Settlement Offer in Class-Action Lawsuit

The New York Times is reporting that Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), Intel (INTC) and Adobe (ADBE) are increasing their settlement offer in the class-action lawsuit that accuses the companies of agreeing to not compete for each other’s employees. The companies are now offering a combined $415 million to the 64,000 plaintiffs, up from a prior offer of $324.5 million.

The settlement remains a small fraction of the cash on each company’s balance sheet.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs have accepted the offer, which now goes to the judge to approve or reject. Previously, the judge rejected the $324.5 million deal, saying that it was not within a realm of reasonableness and hinting that the attorneys might have been too quick to take the sum to earn their high fees.

In 2013, Pixar, Lucasfilm and Intuit settled a similar lawsuit, paying a combined $20 million.

At present, the case is set to move forward at trial this spring.