In the historical trial of Epic Games against Google, Judge James Donato promised to conduct an investigation against Google for the deliberate and systematic concealment of evidence, calling the company’s behavior a direct attack on fair judicial administration. Such a case is important not only for the future android app store, but also for the general perception of the legal practice of large technological companies.
During the court sessions, it turned out that Google systematically deleted correspondence in the chat between his employees, including messages of senior management – up to the General Director of Sundar Pichai. Moreover, even after awareness of their legal obligation to maintain evidence, the company continued to delete messages.
Judge Donato emphasized the seriousness of the issue, saying that such a Google behavior “undermines the basis of fair legal proceedings and the principles of a fair process.” The judge expressed concern about this, noting that during his ten -year career he never faced such a deliberate destruction of relevant evidence.
It is interesting that the director of legal issues of Alphabet Kent Walker, whom Judge Donato called for testimony, also could not satisfy the requests of the judge, as a result of which his certificates were described as “evasion from answers”.
No less important in this case is the decision of Judge Donato not to issue a “mandatory instruction on the conclusions” of the jury, which would mean the assumption that Google has destroyed compromising evidence. Instead, the jury provided freedom to draw their own conclusions independently regarding the missing evidence.
The case marks not only the critical moment in the relationship between large technological companies and justice, but also raises important questions about maintaining digital evidence and transparency of corporate practices. Judge Donato emphasized that he intends to “get to the truth”, which can mean further legal consequences for Google in the future.
Following the trial, Google refused to comment on the situation, and the Epic case against Google was completed. It is expected that on December 11 a final meeting will be held.
The case in question is the trial between Epic Games and Google. The main reason for filing a lawsuit from Epic Games to Google concerns accusations of antimonopoly disorders associated with the policy and functioning of the Google Play app store on the Android platform.
Epic Games has introduced its payment system into the game, which allowed the store to go around the store, which allowed players to purchase Fortnite’s in -game currency and download the game itself bypassing Google Play Store. However, according to the Play Store rules, the developers are required to use the services of Google. Then Fortnite received a ban in the App Store and Google Play