January 28, 1986: Have Your Lawyers Call My Lawyers…

What do you do after ousting one of the founders of the company, if you are Apple Computer? Why, you sue the bejeezus out of them of course. In truth, the reasons for suing Steve were legitimate. Steve was intent on starting a new computer company and was also luring some key Apple employees away from Infinite Loop.

Legitimate or not, the lawsuit only served to enhance Steve Jobs’ reputation. Why would Apple sue someone if he wasn't a legitimate threat? Realizing the negative PR ramifications, Apple sought to end the lawsuit. A compromise was reached when Steve Jobs agreed that NeXT wouldn't compete directly against Apple by always making computers that could run circles around the Mac and that NeXT would refrain from hiring Apple employees for half a year.

The lawsuit was settled out of court this month in 1986.