Google has been ordered to pay sanctions and could face a possible penalty at trial by US Judge James Donato in San Francisco for intentionally destroying employee “chat” evidence in antitrust litigation in California. According to the judge’s ruling, Google “fell strikingly short” in its duties to preserve records.
The ruling is part of a multidistrict litigation that includes a consumer class action with as many as 21 million residents, 38 states and the District of Columbia, and companies such as Epic Games and Match Group. The plaintiffs are challenging Google’s alleged monopoly for distributing Android mobile applications, which Google has denied. The plaintiffs have claimed aggregate damages of $4.7 billion.
The judge has asked plaintiffs’ lawyers to provide an amount in legal fees they are seeking as a sanction by April 21. Plaintiffs will have a chance to urge Donato to tell jurors that Google destroyed information that was unfavorable to it. The judge wants to see “the state of play” at a later stage in the case.
The judge determined Google “left employees largely on their own to determine what Chat communications might be relevant” to the litigation. Google was deleting chat records every 24 hours even after the litigation commenced. The attorneys were seeking instant messaging communication “on topics at the core” of the litigation.
The trial is scheduled to begin in November. Google is separately fighting claims in a US Justice Department antitrust case in Washington, DC, a federal court of destroyed chat records. The case is In re Google Play Store Antitrust Litigation.
Google must pay sanctions and face a possible penalty at trial for intentionally destroying employee “chat” evidence in antitrust litigation in California. The ruling emphasizes the importance of preserving records and the consequences of failing to do so.
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For Digital Products and Services: Maurisys Software.
