Plaintiffs sued Google in 2020, claiming that Google
continued to collect data from users despite their use of private browsing in
Chrome's "Incognito" mode. The lawsuit seeks at least $5 billion in
damages.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on
Wednesday rejected the plaintiffs' bid to appeal a lower court decision last
year that denied class-action status for money damages claims against Google.
The plaintiffs had sought an appeals court hearing on the
issue mid-case and can still seek to revive their money damages claims when
there is a final judgment. A jury trial is set for November.
The class-action status would mean the plaintiffs could
pursue large-scale claims against Google as a group, as opposed to filing
individual claims for monetary damages. The damages class would include at
least "tens of millions" of Google browser users, court filings
indicate.
The plaintiffs, whose lawyers include veteran litigator
David Boies of Boies Schiller Flexner, had argued in the 9th Circuit that the
lower court ruling in December denying class certification on damages
"sounds the 'death knell' for many users' damages claims who lack the
means to individually litigate this case."
Google's attorneys at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
had asked the 9th Circuit not to allow the immediate appeal and instead wait to
hear from the parties after a final order.
Google has denied that it deceived anyone over private
browsing, saying its Chrome browser users consented to the company's data
collection.
A spokesperson for Google declined to comment on Wednesday's
decision.
Although the decision means the plaintiffs cannot seek
monetary damages as a class, the lower court had certified two other classes
that can seek other relief from Google, including curbing certain data
collection practices.
Boies and another plaintiffs' lawyer did not immediately
respond to a message on Thursday seeking comment.
The case is Brown et al v. Google LLC, 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals, No. 22-80147.
For plaintiffs: David Boies and Mark Mao of Boies Schiller
Flexner; Bill Carmody of Susman Godfrey; and John Yanchunis of Morgan &
Morgan
For defendant: Andrew Schapiro, Diane Doolittle and Stephen
Broome of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan © Reuters
0 comments:
Post a Comment