Remember when Major League Baseball owners got into trouble after they were accused of conspiring not to get into bidding wars for ballplayers as part of a “gentlemen’s agreement” to keep salaries down?

Was a similar kind of collusion practiced by big tech companies like Google and Apple?

A U.S. District Court judge ruled Thursday that a lawsuit may proceed against Google, Apple and other Silicon Valley tech employers that says they conspired not to hire each others’ key workers.

The two tech giants and five others already settled similar charges with the Department of Justice in 2010, agreeing not to behave that way, but none of them admitted or denied that they had violated laws in the past.

The private class-action lawsuit in federal court in San Jose now seeks damages for employees.

With so much rivalry and competition for tech talent, it seems unlikely in this climate that tech companies could agree on much of anything.

U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh ruled that even if some claims are dismissed, plaintiffs will get a chance to refile and she sees no obstructions to the case proceeding to the discovery phase.

The other companies named in the suit along with Google and Apple are Adobe Systems Inc., Intel Corp., Intuit Corp., Lucasfilm Ltd., and Walt Disney Co.

Related TechFlash story: Average greater Seattle area tech salary now tops $90,000 a year