Judge Amit Mehta rules that Google is a monopoly

WASHINGTON, DC (REUTERS) – The landmark August 5 ruling that Alphabet subsidiary Google illegally monopolized web search also included a reprimand against the tech giant for concealing potential evidence in the case and a warning to other companies about data protection.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta has sharply criticized Google for allegedly failing to preserve internal chats and abusing communications protections, but he declined to impose formal sanctions on the company.

The Justice Department asked Mehta to penalize Google for what the government called its “systematic destruction” of employee emails and a “blatant abuse” of the attorney-client privilege that protects communications with attorneys.

Mehta said it was not necessary to rule on how Google handled the evidence to determine whether the company violated antitrust law.

“Nevertheless, the court is surprised by the lengths Google goes to avoid creating a paper trail for regulators and litigants,” Mehta wrote. Google “has trained its employees, quite effectively, not to create ‘bad’ evidence,” he said.

Google and the Justice Department declined to comment on Mehta’s decision not to sanction Google over the evidence preservation. Google has denied violating antitrust laws and said it will appeal the court’s ruling. It has also denied mishandling evidence.

Google has long had a practice of automatically deleting employee chat messages after 24 hours unless the person clicked the “history on” button to keep them. Last year, it changed that policy to better protect chats.

Mehta also criticized the company for its “communicate with care” initiative, in which Google employees added lawyers to messages and marked them as “attorney-client confidential.”

Mehta said his decision not to impose sanctions on Google is not an exoneration.

“Any company that requires its employees to identify and preserve relevant evidence does so at its own risk,” Mehta wrote. “Google avoided sanctions in this case. It may not be so lucky in the next one.”

Mehta has been praised for his carefully documented response to the case. As a judge, he has issued significant rulings, including in cases related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. He denied former President Donald Trump’s attempt to dismiss civil lawsuits that held him liable for inciting the riot.

Mehta earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from Georgetown University and a juris doctorate from the University of Virginia School of Law.