In a recent federal court ruling, Google was found to have intentionally destroyed evidence and repeatedly provided false information to the court. US District Judge James Donato determined that sanctions are warranted for Google’s actions, which included intentionally subverting the discovery process and hiding chat evidence.
Uncovering Google’s Deceptive Practices
Judge Donato’s ruling was made in a multi-district antitrust case that consolidates lawsuits filed by Epic Games, the attorneys general of 38 states and the District of Columbia, the Match Group, and a class of consumers. The case concerns Google’s alleged monopolization of the Android app distribution market, with plaintiffs accusing the tech giant of engaging in exclusionary conduct that harmed various groups.
The judge found that Google provided false information to the court and plaintiffs regarding the auto-deletion practices it employed for internal chats. Google deleted chat messages every 24 hours unless the “history-on” setting was enabled by individual document custodians. Although Google could have set the chat history to “on” for all employees subject to the legal hold in the case, it chose not to.
In response to the ruling, Google must now cover the plaintiffs’ reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. Judge Donato has yet to decide on the appropriate non-monetary sanction for Google, stating that further proceedings are required to determine the right course of action.
Potential Sanctions in a Separate Antitrust Case
Google also faces potential sanctions in another antitrust case brought by the US federal government in the District of Columbia. Last month, the US filed a motion for sanctions, arguing that Google’s destruction of written records prejudiced the United States by depriving it of essential evidence. The recent ruling against Google in the Northern California federal court has prompted the US Department of Justice to submit a notice of the sanctions to the DC-based court. Google is currently fighting the request for sanctions in both cases.
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