SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google, Apple, Intel and Adobe have settled a class-action lawsuit alleging they conspired to prevent their engineers and highly sought technology workers from getting better job offers from one another.

The agreement announced Thursday averts a Silicon Valley trial that threatened to expose the tactics that billionaire executives such as late Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt deployed to corral lower-paid employees working on a variety of products and online services.

The trial had been scheduled to begin May 27 in San Jose, Calif.

Terms of the settlement aren't being revealed yet. An attorney representing the workers in the case says the details will be filed in court by May 27.

The suit was seeking $3 billion in damages on behalf of 64,600 workers.