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Gemini
Exit|2 of 4 in Silicon Valley No-Poach Cartel
paper-trailtech-labor·2007 / unsealed 2014

Keep it verbal, do not create a paper trail

The Public Register2007
Google Code of Conductofficial employee policy, Google Investor Relations
Don't be evil. We believe in transparency, honesty, and treating our employees and candidates with fairness and respect.
The Private Artifact2007
Eric SchmidtCEO, Google, Internal email to Shona Brown, Senior VP of People Operations
I would prefer that you keep this verbal and not create a paper trail over email, as I don't want to get sued later if someone subpoenas us.
Exhibit: Antitrust_Ex_Schmidt_NoPaperTrail

The Split:Google preached 'Don't be evil' and corporate transparency. Eric Schmidt explicitly instructed his head of HR to keep the wage-suppressing hiring cartel strictly verbal so that no subpoena could uncover it.

The Tell (How to spot this next time):

'Please do not put this in writing' is the purest admission of preference falsification in enterprise existence.

court pipeDiscovery in Koh courtroom, San Jose federal court.