That got Google, Apple, Adobe and a few other companies in a lot of trouble because they all agreed not to recruit each other's employees.

It got them a slap on the wrist and a nothing fine for years of depressing wages. No one went to jail and the head of HR at Google during this period also got a book deal.

I saw this happen to a colleague in the fiber industry, it is very back room dealy.

> I have no idea why the recruiter was willing to put this in writing

You passed on a juicy class action lawsuit.

I'm not a lawyer, so I wouldn't make any money. I know it's a common refrain, but look at what happened with the Google & Apple class action. Those folks got less than $6,000 each for what must have been hundreds of thousands in damages each.

It's also career limiting to be the person that sued their employer. I didn't have any monetary damages, as I was able to find alternatives.

For the record, in this context your payout would come from the sweet, sweet pot of funds the lawyers divy up. And it'd be a lot more than your direct monetary damages as the lawsuit would likely impair your ability to later work in the industry.

The "class actions never make money for the plaintiffs" refrain is 99.8% true. The people who get a postcard mailer about their eligibility usually get shit. The 0.2% outlier are the people who put themselves at risk by providing the testimony that wins the case, and they're rewarded for it. And the blood-sucking lawyers of course.