Google Loses Bid to Arbitrate Consumers’ Privacy Class Claims

Google LLC and its parent Alphabet Inc. waited too long to raise arbitration, sinking their bid to push out of court users’ claims that Google Assistant intercepted private communications without permission, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

Judge Beth Labson Freeman of the US District Court for the Northern District of California denied Google’s motion seeking to exclude users who agreed to a class-action waiver and to have their claims arbitrated. Plaintiffs established that the tech giant knew of an existing right to compel arbitration against putative class members at least one year after the case was filed.

Google first asserted its right to compel arbitration in its answer “filed two and a half years into the case, after filing four motions to dismiss; then ignored the issue of arbitrability while participating in discovery and filing a motion for summary judgment,” the judge said. Google then asserted its arbitration rights for a time when opposing class certification, but then waited an additional seven months before filing the present motion to compel arbitration, “four years into this litigation,” the judge said.

In December 2022, Freeman certified a nationwide class of purchasers of a Google Assistant who alleged the voice-activated virtual assistant developed for use with Google Home, Android smart phones, and other devices sometimes causes audio to be recorded and transmitted to Google even when the user hasn’t uttered hot words or manually activated the device.

Lexington Law Group, Lowey Dannenberg PC, Gutride Safier LLP, and Scott & Scott Attorneys at Law LLP represent the plaintiffs and proposed class. Perkins Coie LLP represents Google.

The case is In re Google Assistant Privacy Litig., N.D. Cal., No. 5:19-cv-04286, 1/23/24.