In Silicon Valley Thriller, a Settlement May Preclude the Finale

After years of legal skirmishes, four leading Silicon Valley companies are scheduled to go on trial next month on claims of conspiring to keep their employees down. Settlement talks have accelerated and people close to the case say that barring a last-minute snag, a deal is imminent.

The antitrust lawsuit pits 64,613 software engineers against Google, Apple, Intel and Adobe. It accuses the companies of agreeing not to solicit one another’s employees in a scheme developed and enforced by Steven P. Jobs of Apple. In their drive for control, the companies undermined their employees’ opportunities to get better jobs and make more money, the court papers say.

A 43-year-old programmer who helped set in motion a class-action lawsuit against the companies and became one of its five class representatives will not be present in the San Jose courtroom. He was shot and killed by the police last December. The programmer, Brandon Marshall, died in circumstances that remain murky. He was agitated and combative, escalating a confrontation with sheriff’s deputies by assaulting one, who shot him in the chest. Marshall’s death is just one of many ways in which the case has shaped up to be a Silicon Valley drama unlike any other.