Uber Threatens to Fire Self-Driving Car Executive -- Update
May 19 2017 - 01:17AM
Dow Jones News
By Jack Nicas
Uber Technologies Inc. has threatened to fire Anthony
Levandowski, the top driverless-car engineer at the center of its
legal battle with Google parent Alphabet Inc., if he doesn't comply
with a court order to turn over any files that he might have.
Uber sent Mr. Levandowski a four-page letter Monday saying he
must comply with a court order issued last week that requires him
to return 14,000 allegedly stolen files and an extensive accounting
of any Uber employees' handling or knowledge of the files.
Mr. Levandowski, a former Alphabet engineer who joined Uber last
year to run its driverless-car program, has repeatedly invoked his
Fifth Amendment rights in the case, declining to comment and
refusing to turn over documents.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup ruled last week that Mr.
Levandowski's use of the Fifth Amendment doesn't bar Uber from
firing him, and that the company shouldn't "pull any punches" in
compelling him to surface more information around the allegedly
stolen files.
Uber's letter to Mr. Levandowski was revealed in a motion his
attorneys filed with the court late Thursday that asks the judge to
revise his ruling that Uber could fire Mr. Levandowski for invoking
the Fifth Amendment.
Uber and Waymo, Alphabet's self-driving car unit, declined to
comment. Attorneys representing Mr. Levandowski didn't respond to a
request for comment.
Mr. Levandowski's attorneys wrote in Thursday's motion that the
judge's ruling last week "can be summarized quite simply: Waive
your Fifth Amendment rights...or I will have you fired. The choice
is yours, Mr. Levandowski."
The attorneys argued that the judge's order to Uber to force Mr.
Levandowski to comply with the ruling or face termination violates
decades of court precedent. The attorneys said the judge's order
has made Uber believe it could be held in contempt if it continues
to employ Mr. Levandowski while he refuses to cooperate.
If the judge agrees with Mr. Levandowski's attorneys and allows
him to remain at Uber without cooperating with the judge's order,
it could be welcome news for Uber. The company could keep a top
engineer and argue it struggled to comply with the judge's demands
for more information without Mr. Levandowski's assistance.
Waymo sued Uber in February for allegedly conspiring with Mr.
Levandowski to steal Waymo files, in an effort to benefit Uber's
driverless-car program. A trial is set for October in the U.S.
District Court for the Northern District of California in San
Francisco.
Last week, Judge Alsup asked federal prosecutors to investigate
Uber and Mr. Levandowski for potential trade-secret theft.
Write to Jack Nicas at jack.nicas@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 19, 2017 02:02 ET (06:02 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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