Anthony Levandowski, the embattled Uber engineer who has been accused of illegally downloading thousands of documents while he worked at Google, won't be able to stop Uber from handing over documents by pleading the Fifth Amendment.
That's the decision (PDF) of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, published today. Levandowski filed an emergency motion with the appeals court, seeking to overturn the decision. The decision was made by US District Judge William Alsup, who had told Levandowski he would need to hand over an unredacted privilege log.
"Mr. Levandowski argues that he is entitled to relief under the Fifth Amendment because production of the unredacted privilege log could potentially incriminate him," write the appeals judges in a four-page order. "We are not persuaded that the district court erred in its ruling requiring defendants to produce an unredacted privilege log."
Levandowski's lawyers had made a novel legal argument in the lower court. It wasn't just that their client wouldn't hand over certain documents: his lawyers argued that Waymo—Alphabet's self-driving car division—shouldn't even be entitled to see the names of documents they were withholding, which is what's contained in the privilege log.According to Levandowski's lawyers, revealing the name of a third-party firm that created a report about his startup company—a company that was later purchased by Uber for $680 million—would create a path for prosecutors to follow in the event of criminal prosecution.
One problem for Levandowski was that he isn't even a party to the case. Waymo was demanding the documents from Uber, not from him.
Waymo sued Uber in February. The company claimed that Levandowski had stolen trade secrets and that Uber infringed patents related to self-driving cars. The case is still in early stages of litigation.
Next week, the judge will consider a motion for a preliminary injunction, which may result in an order forcing Levandowski, who still works at Uber, to stop helping out with Uber's self-driving cars.
Judge Alsup has implied, in open court, that, unless something changes, he's not likely to rule in Levandowski's favor. Waymo lawyers have alleged that Levandowski secretly downloaded some 14,000 documents while he worked at Google, and the judge has repeatedly pointed out that neither Uber nor Waymo have denied those allegations.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said Levandowski could not plead the 5th Amendment. The appeals court ruled Levandowski is not entitled to the relief he asked for under the 5th Amendment.
More on Waymo v. Uber:
- On February 23, Google's Waymo division filed a lawsuit claiming that Uber's self-driving car chief, Anthony Levandowski, illegally downloaded 14,000 files when he worked at Google.
- On March 29, during a closed-door hearing, Levandowski's lawyer said his client would plead the Fifth to avoid testifying about documents that he may have.
- On April 3, Google accused Levandowski of creating "competing side businesses," even while he earned a reported $120 million from Google.
- On April 4, Levandowski filed a public motion invoking his 5th Amendment rights.
- On April 5, US District Judge William Alsup insisted that Uber search harder for the 14,000 allegedly stolen files.
- On April 6, Alsup said he would likely rule against Levandowski on the 5th Amendment issue and told him to prepare an appeal.
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