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posted by janrinok on Thursday March 24 2022, @01:25AM   Printer-friendly

Google allegedly hid documents from search monopoly lawsuit, DOJ claims:

Google employees have been improperly using attorney-client privilege to hide documents from discovery in litigation and government investigations, according to fresh allegations laid by the US Justice Department (DOJ).

"Google has explicitly and repeatedly instructed its employees to shield important business communications from discovery by using false requests for legal advice," DOJ attorneys wrote in a court filing for its search monopoly lawsuit against Google.

According to the court filing [PDF], Google taught employees to slap an attorney-client privilege label and generic "request" for counsel's advice label on any sensitive business communications that Google might wish to shield from discovery. Slapping these labels onto communications prevents them from being provided for discovery in litigation.

This practice has allegedly been used throughout all levels of Google's hierarchy, with the DOJ claiming Google parent company Alphabet's CEO Sundar Pichai copied Google chief legal officer Kent Walker onto an email to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki about how to respond to a press inquiry, with "Attorney Client Privileged" at the top.

In these "camouflaged" communications, the attorney allegedly remained silent on a frequent basis, which the DOJ claims underscored that these communications were not genuine requests for legal advice but rather "an effort to hide potential evidence".


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 24 2022, @06:30PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 24 2022, @06:30PM (#1231803)

    I like healthcare and science.

    But unlike you, I think I should pay for my own healthcare and science instead of forcing other people to pay for it. That makes me responsible for my own personal choices. Should I smoke and risk paying more? Should I take an untested vaccine and risk having major health events that drive my prices up?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 25 2022, @01:42PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 25 2022, @01:42PM (#1232027)

    You don't quite understand how insurance works do you? Now let's queue the "I'll pay in full for _everything_ myself and don't need no stinkin' insurance" while I show you how much healthcare actually costs in this shithole country...

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 25 2022, @06:44PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 25 2022, @06:44PM (#1232108)

      You don't quite understand how insurance works do you? Now let's queue the "I'll pay in full for _everything_ myself and don't need no stinkin' insurance" while I show you how much healthcare actually costs in this shithole country...

      I understand how insurance works. You can *voluntarily* join a risk pool for coverage.

      I think you don't understand how socialized medicine works: You are required to join a risk pool that includes everyone, and it requires you to pay for other people in the pool or else the government will take your stuff, and lock you in a cage like a dog or murder you.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 26 2022, @10:33PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 26 2022, @10:33PM (#1232488)

        or else the government will take your stuff, and lock you in a cage like a dog or murder you.

        Well, if they don't, we will, you freeloading sack of shite! Oh, wait, the government is us! Says so right in the fine print,