LinkedIn Seeks to Block Testimony of Top Executives in Antitrust Lawsuit

LinkedIn has asked a US federal judge to prevent plaintiffs in a proposed class action lawsuit from questioning five current and former senior executives, including Chief Executive Officer Daniel Shapero, in a case alleging the company unlawfully monopolised the professional social networking market.

In a filing submitted to the federal court in California, LinkedIn’s lawyers from Dechert LLP argued that the plaintiffs should not be allowed to depose Shapero or other former executives, including former chief executives Ryan Roslansky, Jeff Weiner and Reid Hoffman.

The company said the executives did not possess unique first-hand information relevant to the claims and argued that the plaintiffs could obtain any necessary evidence through other sources.

The lawsuit, filed in 2022, alleges that LinkedIn illegally controlled more than 97 per cent of the professional social networking market and charged excessive prices for its premium subscription services. The plaintiffs claim that senior executives were directly involved in the development, defence and commercialisation of LinkedIn’s alleged market dominance.

Lawyers representing the users said they needed to question senior leaders because of their alleged role in shaping the company’s business strategy and maintaining its position in the market.

LinkedIn previously agreed to settle the case, but the proposed settlement was rejected by US District Judge Haywood Gilliam Jr. in Oakland. Under the proposed agreement, LinkedIn would have changed certain business practices but would not have provided any financial compensation to users.

LinkedIn has denied any wrongdoing and continues to contest the allegations.

“The claims made in this case are baseless, and no amount of additional discovery will change that. We remain confident in our position and will continue to contest this case,” the company said in a statement.

The plaintiffs separately asked the court on Friday for permission to amend their complaint to include newly disclosed information from LinkedIn, an additional federal antitrust claim and allegations under California’s unfair competition law.

Judge Gilliam has scheduled a hearing for April 2027 to consider whether the lawsuit should proceed as a class action. Lawyers for the plaintiffs have estimated that the proposed class could include hundreds of thousands of affected users.

The case is Todd Crowder et al. v. LinkedIn Corp., US District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 4:22-cv-00237-HSG.

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