Levandowski Fights Full Disclosure Over Waymo Secrets

Uber’s robocar project director wants his company to be spared from having to turn over certain documents in Waymo’s trade-secrets theft suit, saying he’s vulnerable to criminal prosecution, according to Bloomberg.

Engineer Anthony Levandowski, who’s asserting his constitutional right against self-incrimination, asked a San Francisco federal judge to scale back an order requiring the ride-hailing giant to disclose thousands of records relating to driverless technology. Waymo has argued that Uber is stonewalling on its obligation to turn over files and documents that the Alphabet unit says were stolen by Levandowski when he left Waymo last year and launched his self-driving startup Otto, which was acquired by Uber for $680 million.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup has to weigh Levandowski’s right to protect himself from possible criminal prosecution against Waymo’s contention that it will suffer greatly if Uber’s use of its proprietary information isn’t halted promptly. When Levandowski’s lawyer said at a hearing that Waymo is trying to get ahold of records about Uber’s acquisition of Otto that are protected by a confidentiality pact, the judge questioned the need for such an agreement.

Waymo claims there’s proof that Uber knew, before it acquired Otto, that Levandowski stole the documents. Levandowski and Uber can’t hide behind the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, Waymo said in a court filing.

At a hearing Wednesday, Waymo had asked Alsup to conclude Uber was using 14,000 files allegedly downloaded by Levandowski to develop the ride-hailing company’s driverless car program. The judge stopped short of issuing an order that would block Uber’s use of the disputed technology. Instead, Uber agreed to dig deeper into its computer servers to look for files that the company’s lawyer said haven’t been found. Uber also agreed to interview employees to help find the files.