Yahoo Planned Huge Worker Walkout: Lawsuit

Yahoo planned to pay all 14,000 workers to quit if Microsoft bought the company in a recent takeover bid, a lawsuit unsealed today claims. The shareholder complaint blasts execs for burying Microsoft's $1.5 billion offer to workers, and rejecting a $40-per-share offer last year. Yahoo tried to stop the unsealing, which revealed internal talks and private emails, Portfolio reports.

In one email, a Yahoo consultant called CEO Jerry Yang's walkout plan "nuts," while a VP described it as "a bizarre outcome if people who stick around make off worse" than those who leave. The 42-page complaint also slams Yahoo's board for letting Yang handle the talks, and leaving independent directors out of "critical meetings with the company." (More Jerry Yang stories.)