Uber has threatened to fire Anthony Levandowski, the engineer at the center of a hugely important lawsuit between the ride-hailing service and Alphabet’s self-driving division Waymo.
Levandowski has been accused of stealing 14,000 confidential documents from Waymo before he left the company and was ultimately hired by Uber. It is these documents which Waymo says were used by Uber to steal trade secrets and to develop its own self-driving technology.
Throughout the case, Levandowski has invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to be questioned due to potential self-discrimination. Despite this, Judge William Alsup recently ordered Uber to force the engineer to return any downloaded materials to Waymo, Tech Crunch reports.
In a sternly-worded letter sent to Levandowski on May 15, Uber General Counsel Salle Yoo said failure to comply with the court order could result in his termination.
“As a condition of your employment at Uber, you must comply with all of the requirements set forth in this letter. If you do not agree to comply with all of the requirements set forth herein, or if you fail to comply in a material manner, then Uber will take adverse employment action against you, which may include termination of your employment and such termination would be for Cause,” the letter reads.
It doesn’t appear as though Levandowski has turned over any potential Waymo documents at this stage with his attorneys suggesting the court’s order violates his right to avoid self-incrimination.
“Anything short of firing Mr. Levandowski to get him to waive his Fifth Amendment rights and attorney-client privileges would put Uber at risk of contempt, since it would fail to measure up to the Court’s command that Uber exercise every lawful power it has over Mr. Levandowski,” his attorneys say.
The case will go to trial later this year.
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