Google criticised for evidence handling in antitrust case

A US District Judge ruled that Alphabet’s Google has illegally monopolised web search while criticising the company for potentially destroying evidence. Judge Amit Mehta highlighted Google’s alleged failure to preserve internal communications and misuse of legal protections but chose not to sanction the company formally. The US Justice Department accused Google of systematically deleting employee messages and abusing attorney-client privilege, though Mehta noted these issues were not pivotal in determining Google’s antitrust violations.

Google had a policy of automatically deleting employee chat messages after 24 hours unless manually preserved, which it altered last year to improve record-keeping. Mehta also criticised Google’s ‘communicate with care’ initiative, where employees would involve lawyers in messages to shield them under attorney-client privilege.

Why does this matter?

The evidence-handling issue has been contentious in other cases against Google, including a lawsuit by Epic Games, where a federal judge previously ruled that Google willfully failed to preserve relevant chat records. The matter is also part of an upcoming Justice Department lawsuit concerning Google’s digital advertising practices.

Despite avoiding sanctions, Mehta warned that companies relying on employees to preserve evidence risk future penalties. Google’s decision not to comment on the ruling suggests ongoing legal challenges as it plans to appeal the court’s decision on its antitrust conduct.