Apple Settles Lawsuit with Battery Maker

Apple settled a case that claimed the company “poached” employees.

Industry giant Apple has agreed to settle a case that was brought against them. The claim stated that Apple poached staff from a firm that makes batteries for electric cars, court documents show.

The iPhone and Apple watch maker was accused of targeting and hiring engineers in 2014 that were employed by A123, a small company, as it sought to build a large-scale battery unit. A123 Systems is among the pioneering companies that make pioneering industrial lithium-ion batteries. It was backed by a $249m (£158m) US government grant and had some of the highest ranking engineers working for them. A123 filed for bankruptcy in 2012, and has been selling off assets ever since.

The company said that Apple approached their employees and tried to hire them for their own benefit. Apple denied the claim initially back in February, but it seems like some pawns have moved since then. According to BBC, “The terms of the deal were not disclosed in court papers. The agreement in principle was disclosed in the papers filed by the battery-maker, which is based in Waltham, Massachusetts.”

Initially, Apple did try to fight against the company. They unsuccessfully applied to have the case dismissed, claiming that it was based “solely on labels and conclusions” that weave “an elaborate but ultimately incorrect and unsupportable theory.”

There has been no announcement as to what batteries these engineers worked on, though Apple has been famously fighting against consumer complaints of low battery life, exploding batteries, and the cost of replacements.

There has been no conclusion reached yet, and the two parties are said to be working together. Neither company has issued any official statements on the claims or the court documents.