Court Denies Google's Bid To Compel Arbitration Four Years Into Litigation

A California federal judge recently denied Google's motion to arbitrate a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit alleged that Google violated privacy statutes by concealing the fact that Google-Assistant-enabled devices could accidentally record users' conversations without users' permission or knowledge.

In its ruling denying Google's request to send the case to arbitration, the federal court determined that the plaintiffs satisfied the two-prong test for waiver: (1) knowledge of an existing right to compel arbitration and (2) intentional acts inconsistent with the existing right to arbitrate.

With respect to the first prong, the court determined that Google knew about its existing right to compel arbitration because it drafted the arbitration provisions in the relevant agreements.