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WAYMO’S MOTION FOR ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART & SULLIVAN, LLP

 Charles K. Verhoeven (Bar No. 170151)

 charlesverhoeven@quinnemanuel.com

 David A. Perlson (Bar No. 209502)

 davidperlson@quinnemanuel.com

 Melissa Baily (Bar No. 237649)

 melissabaily@quinnemanuel.com

 John Neukom (Bar No. 275887)

 johnneukom@quinnemanuel.com

 Jordan Jaffe (Bar No. 254886)

 jordanjaffe@quinnemanuel.com

50 California Street, 22nd Floor

San Francisco, California 94111-4788

Telephone: (415) 875-6600

Facsimile: (415) 875-6700

Attorneys for WAYMO LLC

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION

WAYMO LLC,

Plaintiff,

vs.

UBER TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; 

OTTOMOTTO LLC; OTTO TRUCKING 

LLC,

Defendants.

CASE NO. 3:17-cv-00939

PLAINTIFF WAYMO LLC’S NOTICE OF 

MOTION AND MOTION FOR ORDER 

TO SHOW CAUSE WHY DEFENDANTS 

SHOULD NOT BE HELD IN CONTEMPT 

OF THE PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION 

ORDER (Dkt. 426) AND EXPEDITED 

DISCOVERY ORDER (Dkt. 61)

[PUBLIC REDACTED VERSION]

Date: July 27, 2017

Time: 8:00 a.m.

Ctrm: 8, 19th Floor

Judge: Honorable William H. Alsup

Trial Date: October 10, 2017 

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WAYMO’S MOTION FOR ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

TO DEFENDANTS UBER TECHNOLOGIES, INC., OTTOMOTTO LLC, AND OTTO 

TRUCKING LLC, AND THEIR COUNSEL OF RECORD: 

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that on July 27, 2017 on 8:00 a.m., or as soon thereafter as the 

matter may be heard, in the courtroom of the Honorable William Alsup at the United States 

District Court for the Northern District of California, 450 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, 

California, Plaintiff Waymo LLC (“Waymo”) shall and hereby does move the Court for an Order 

to Show Cause why Defendants Uber Technologies, OttoMotto LLC, and Otto Trucking LLC 

should not be held in contempt of the Court’s Preliminary Injunction Order (Dkt. 426) and 

Expedited Discovery Order (Dkt. 61) for: (1) failing to “exercise the full extent of their corporate, 

employment, contractual, and other authority” to cause their agent Stroz Friedberg to return all 

materials in Stroz Friedberg’s possession that Anthony Levandowski downloaded from Waymo’s 

servers; (2) failing to timely notify Waymo and the Court about the apparent destruction of five 

discs of downloaded materials; (3) failing to “exercise the full extent of their corporate, 

employment, contractual, and other authority” to cause their agent, Morrison & Foerster, LLP 

(“MoFo”) to return the downloaded materials; and (4) failing to “exercise the full extent of their 

corporate, employment, contractual, and other authority” to cause Otto Trucking’s officer, Mr. 

Levandowski, to return the downloaded materials. 

Waymo’s motion is based on this notice of motion and supporting memorandum of points 

and authorities, the supporting declaration of Patrick Schmidt and accompanying exhibits, reply 

briefing in further support of this motion and supporting declarations and accompanying exhibits, 

as well as other written or oral argument that Waymo may present to the Court.

DATED: June 21, 2017 QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART & SULLIVAN, LLP

By /s/ Charles K. Verhoeven

Charles K. Verhoeven

Attorneys for Plaintiff Waymo LLC

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-iWAYMO’S MOTION FOR ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................................1

STATEMENT OF FACTS.................................................................................................................2

I. DEFENDANTS HAVE BEEN UNDER AN OBLIGATION TO PRODUCE THE 

DOWNLOADED MATERIALS SINCE MARCH 2017......................................................2

II. THE COURT’S PI ORDER REQUIRES DEFENDANTS TO USE THE FULL 

SCOPE OF THEIR AUTHORITY TO COMPEL ALL OF THEIR OFFICERS 

AND AGENTS TO RETURN THE DOWNLOADED MATERIALS.................................3

III. DEFENDANTS FAIL TO ASK THEIR AGENT STROZ TO RETURN THE 

DOWNLOADED MATERIALS ...........................................................................................4

IV. ON JUNE 8 UBER SERVES AN INTERROGATORY RESPONSE STATING 

THAT SOME OF THE DOWNLOADED MATERIALS WERE DESTROYED IN 

MARCH OF LAST YEAR ....................................................................................................6

V. DEFENDANT OTTO TRUCKING FAILS TO EXERCISE ITS FULL 

AUTHORITY TO CAUSE MR. LEVANDOWSKI TO RETURN THE 

DOWNLOADED MATERIALS ...........................................................................................6

VI. DEFENDANTS FAIL TO EXERCISE THEIR FULL AUTHORITY TO CAUSE 

THEIR AGENT, MOFO, TO RETURN THE DOWNLOADED MATERIALS .................7

ARGUMENT .....................................................................................................................................8

I. DEFENDANTS ARE IN CONTEMPT FOR FAILING TO TAKE ALL STEPS 

TO CAUSE STROZ TO RETURN THE DOWNLOADED MATERIALS.........................9

A. Defendants Violated the PI Order and Expedited Discovery Order With 

Respect to Stroz..........................................................................................................9

B. Defendants’ Violation Was “Beyond Substantial Compliance” ..............................10

C. Defendants’ Violation Is Not Based on a Good Faith and Reasonable 

Interpretation of the PI Order or Expedited Discovery Order..................................11

II. DEFENDANTS ARE IN CONTEMPT FOR FAILING TO TAKE ALL STEPS 

TO CAUSE MOFO TO RETURN THE DOWNLOADED MATERIALS ........................13

III. DEFENDANTS ARE IN CONTEMPT FOR FAILING TO TIMELY DISCLOSE 

THE DESTRUCTION OF FIVE DISCS OF DOWNLOADED MATERIALS .................13

IV. DEFENDANT OTTO TRUCKING IS IN CONTEMPT FOR FAILING TO TAKE 

ALL CORPORATE STEPS TO PRESSURE MR. LEVANDOWSKI TO RETURN 

THE DOWNLOADED MATERIALS ................................................................................14

CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................15

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-iiWAYMO’S MOTION FOR ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Page

Cases

Perez v. i2a Techs., Inc.,

No. C 15-04963 WHA, 2015 WL 7753330 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 2, 2015)......................................... 8

Perez v. RMRF Enter., Inc.,

No. C 13-80059 SI, 2014 WL 3869935 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 6, 2014) .................................. 8, 10, 11

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INTRODUCTION

The Court has issued multiple Orders requiring Defendants to return to Waymo the more 

than 14,000 files stolen by Anthony Levandowksi. First, on March 16, the Court’s Expedited 

Discovery Order ordered Defendants to “produce for inspection all files and documents 

downloaded by Anthony Levandowski” by March 31. (Dkt. 61 at 2 ¶ 4.) After Defendants 

refused to turn over any of the stolen files, the Court issued a second Order (the Preliminary 

Injunction Order), this time ruling that “Defendants must immediately and in writing exercise the

full extent of their corporate, employment, contractual, and other authority to (a) prevent Anthony 

Levandowski and all other officers, directors, employees, and agents of defendants from

consulting, copying, or otherwise using the downloaded materials; and (b) cause them to return the 

downloaded materials and all copies, excerpts, and summaries thereof to Waymo (or the Court) by 

MAY 31 AT NOON.” (Dkt. 426 at 23 ¶ 2.) Once again, the compliance deadline came and went 

without the return of a single one of the misappropriated files. 

Defendants have never disputed that some of the stolen files are in the hands of Stroz 

Friedberg (“Stroz”), a digital forensics firm that Defendants retained as an agent in 2016 to 

conduct due diligence in connection with Uber’s contemplated acquisition of the Otto Defendants. 

Nor has anyone ever disputed that Mr. Levandowski still has the downloaded files. Moreover, just 

days ago Boies Schiller Flexner (“BSF”) revealed that another one of Defendants’ agents —

Morrison & Foerster LLP (“MoFo”) — also has been sitting on some of the stolen files for over a 

year. Nevertheless, in flagrant disregard of two Court Orders, not a single one of the downloaded 

files has been returned to Waymo to date. Meanwhile, Stroz remains Defendants’ agent in this 

very litigation, Mr. Levandowski remains a senior officer with full stock privileges at Otto 

Trucking, and MoFo remains counsel of record for Uber and Ottomotto. 

Nor is this Defendants’ only willful violation of the Court’s Orders. In addition to 

ordering the production of any downloaded materials, the Court’s March 16 Expedited Discovery 

Order required that “[i]f any part of said downloaded materials has been deleted, destroyed, or 

modified, then defendants shall state the full extent thereof and produce all documents bearing on 

said deletion, destruction, or modification.” (Dkt. 61 at 2 ¶ 4.) No statement of any destruction 

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was provided pursuant to the Court’s Order by the March 31 deadline. Yet, over two months later,

Defendants Uber’s and OttoMotto’s June 5 response to Waymo’s expedited interrogatory revealed 

that documents were destroyed, allegedly at Uber’s direction, back in March 2016: 

On or about March 11, 2016, Mr. Levandowski reported to [Travis] Kalanick, 

Nina Qi and Cameron Poetzscher at Uber as well as Lior Ron that he had 

identified five discs in his possession containing Google information. Mr. 

Kalanick conveyed to Mr. Levandowski in response that Mr. Levandowski should 

not bring any Google information into Uber and that Uber did not want any 

Google information. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Levandowski communicated to Uber 

that he had destroyed the discs.

(Ex. 1 at 4.)1 

There is no avoiding the plain fact that Defendants have willfully violated two Court 

Orders. Waymo respectfully requests that the Court promptly issue an Order to Show Cause why 

Defendants should not be held in contempt. 

STATEMENT OF FACTS

I. DEFENDANTS HAVE BEEN UNDER AN OBLIGATION TO PRODUCE THE 

DOWNLOADED MATERIALS SINCE MARCH 2017

On March 16, 2017, the Court issued its Expedited Discovery Order in this case, which set 

a March 31 deadline for Defendants to “produce for inspection all files and documents 

downloaded by Anthony Levandowski, Sameer Kshirsagar, or Radu Raduta before leaving 

plaintiff’s payroll and thereafter taken by them.” (Dkt. 61 at 2 ¶ 4.) The Expedited Discovery 

Order also stated: “If any part of said downloaded material has been deleted, destroyed, or 

modified, then defendants shall state the extent thereof and produce all documents bearing on said 

deletion, destruction, or modification” by the same March 31 deadline. (Id.) Defendants did not 

produce any of the downloaded materials by this March 31 deadline, nor did they report on the 

destruction of any such materials. Instead, Defendants provided redacted privilege logs between

April 10 and April 13 that were supposedly responsive to the Court’s Order. (Dkts. 272-2, 272-4, 

& 272-6.) 

 

1

 Unless otherwise noted, citations herein to “Ex. __” shall refer to the accompanying 

Declaration of Patrick Schmidt in Support of this Motion. 

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Notably, Defendants’ privilege logs redacted the identity of the agent that performed due 

diligence for Defendant Uber’s potential acquisition of the Otto Defendants. After Defendants’ 

redactions were rejected by both this Court and the Federal Circuit, Defendants finally admitted 

that this due diligence agent was Stroz. As discussed below, Stroz is also the very entity that 

Defendants retained in this case to purportedly search Defendants’ computer networks for the 

downloaded materials. (Statement of Facts § III, infra.) 

II. THE COURT’S PI ORDER REQUIRES DEFENDANTS TO USE THE FULL 

SCOPE OF THEIR AUTHORITY TO COMPEL ALL OF THEIR OFFICERS AND

AGENTS TO RETURN THE DOWNLOADED MATERIALS

On May 11, 2017, the Court issued its Preliminary Injunction Order (“PI Order”). (Dkt. 

426.) Initially, the PI Order found that “Waymo has made a strong showing that Levandowski 

absconded with over 14,000 files from Waymo, evidently to have them available to consult on 

behalf of Otto and Uber. As of the date of this order, those files have not been returned and likely 

remain in Levandowski’s possession. The record further indicates that Uber knew or at least 

should have known of the downloading but nevertheless proceeded to bring Levandowski and 

Otto on board.” (Id. at 7.) The PI Order further found that “at least some information from those 

files, if not the files themselves, has seeped into Uber’s own LiDAR development efforts.” (Id. at 

17.) 

Given these findings, the PI Order set forth a detailed set of actions that Defendants must 

take. Relevant to this Motion, the PI Order held that “Defendants must immediately and in 

writing exercise the full extent of their corporate, employment, contractual, and other authority to 

(a) prevent Anthony Levandowski and all other officers, directors, employees, and agents of 

defendants from consulting, copying, or otherwise using the downloaded materials; and (b) cause 

them to return the downloaded materials and all copies, excerpts, and summaries thereof to 

Waymo (or the Court) by MAY 31 AT NOON.” (Id. at 23 ¶ 2.) “Downloaded materials” were 

defined as “all materials that Anthony Levandowski downloaded from Waymo and kept upon 

leaving Waymo’s employment.” (Id. at 22 ¶ 1.) 

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III. DEFENDANTS FAIL TO ASK THEIR AGENT STROZ TO RETURN THE 

DOWNLOADED MATERIALS

Stroz is Defendants’ agent in connection with the due diligence that Defendants conducted 

as to Uber’s potential acquisition of the Otto entities. (Dkt. 370 ¶¶ 9-10.) Indeed, counsel for 

Defendants Uber and Otto repeatedly called Stroz their “agent” at a recent discovery hearing 

before Judge Corley in relation to this work. (5.25.17 Hearing Tr. at 24:6-7; 38:5-12; 53:4-9.) As 

Defendants have stated, the main thrust of Stroz’s work was “to conduct an investigation 

regarding the activities of Mr. Levandowski, Mr. Ron, and certain other former Google employees 

who had joined Otto, surrounding their respective departures from Google and onboarding to 

Otto.” (Dkt. 370 at ¶ 9 (emphasis added).) Otto Trucking has also claimed Stroz is its agent. 

(E.g., Dkt. 572 at 1-2.) As the Court is aware, Waymo claims that Mr. Levandowski stole 

confidential Waymo files and provided them to Defendants for use in Defendants’ self-driving car 

efforts. Thus, these stolen files (i.e., the “downloaded materials”) would have been front and 

center in Stroz’s investigative efforts, a fact that neither Stroz nor Defendants has ever denied.2 

As part of this due diligence, Stroz prepared a Due Diligence Report that is the subject of a motion 

to compel by Waymo and is part of the “relentless concealment of likely probative evidence, both 

documentary and testimonial, from Waymo’s view” that the Court noted in its PI Order. (Dkt. 426

at 8.) 

Stroz is also Defendants’ agent in this very litigation, as they are acting as Defendants’

discovery vendor and digital forensics consultant. (Dkt. 175-1 (Faulkner Decl.)). By its own 

testimony, Stroz has provided extensive e-discovery services for Defendants in this case related to 

Defendants’ alleged search of their computer networks for the downloaded materials. (Id. at ¶¶ 3-

6.) 

On May 31, Waymo asked Defendants whether they had instructed their agent Stroz to 

return any copies of the downloaded materials in Stroz’s possession. Defendants Uber and 

 

2

 Indeed, recent briefing by Mr. Levandowski suggests that Stroz has imaged the entire contents 

of Mr. Levandowski’s personal computer and has these image files in its possession. (Dkt. 583 at 

8 & Dkt. 652 at 3.) 

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OttoMotto said they had not: “We have not directed Stroz to do anything with respect to any 

allegedly downloaded files because Uber does not have control over Mr. Levandowski’s personal 

property, including any property he may have provided to Stroz. Uber cannot compel a third party 

to produce documents that it does not control.” (Ex. 2 at 3 (5.31.17 email from W. Ray to A. 

Roberts).) In a subsequent meet-and-confer between the parties, Uber and OttoMotto reiterated 

their position that the downloaded materials are Mr. Levandowski’s “personal property and he put 

very tight restrictions on the ability even of Stroz to share that with anyone . . .” (Id. at 1 (6.1.17 

email from M. Baily to W. Ray).) Otto Trucking similarly stated that they had not directed or 

asked Stroz to return the downloaded materials, giving the same explanation that these materials 

are Mr. Levandowski’s “property.” (Ex. 3 at 1 (6.14.17 email from J. Judah to S. Brun).) 

On May 1, Waymo filed a motion to compel production of the Due Diligence Report that 

Stroz provided to Defendants, along with associated documents. (Dkt. 321.) Defendants 

Uber/OttoMotto an opposition brief (in which Defendant Otto Trucking joined), contending that 

the Due Diligence Report was protected by the attorney-client privilege and work product 

protection and that identifying which documents Stroz selected as exhibits or attachments to the 

Report would intrude on work product protection. (See generally Dkts. 369, 389.) As noted 

above, Defendants do not seek to justify their failure to ask Stroz to return the downloaded 

materials based on privilege, but instead based on the contention that the downloaded materials 

are somehow Mr. Levandowki’s personal property.

On June 12— more than a month after the Court ordered Defendants to “immediately and 

in writing” exercise their authority over their agents — BSF forwarded to Waymo two letters of 

the same date, one addressed to Mr. Levandowski and the other addressed to Stroz, that purported 

to (finally) ask Stroz to return the downloaded files. (Ex. 4.) However, even this letter is plainly 

less than the full extent of Uber and Ottomotto’s authority. After going through the motions of 

telling Stroz that Uber and Ottomotto “do not want” Stroz to “retain possession of” or “destroy or 

delete” the downloaded materials, but rather “want” Stroz to produce them to Waymo, the letter

then explains to Stroz that “Uber and Ottomotto do not have the contractual power to order Stroz” 

to do any of those things. (Id. at 2 ¶ 4.) 

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IV. ON JUNE 8 UBER SERVES AN INTERROGATORY RESPONSE STATING 

THAT SOME OF THE DOWNLOADED MATERIALS WERE DESTROYED IN 

MARCH OF LAST YEAR

On June 8, Uber served a response to Waymo’s Expedited Interrogatory No. 1. In relevant 

part, Uber’s response stated: 

On or about March 11, 2016, Mr. Levandowski reported to Mr. Kalanick, Nina Qi 

and Cameron Poetzscher at Uber as well as Lior Ron that he had identified five 

discs in his possession containing Google information. Mr. Kalanick conveyed to 

Mr. Levandowski in response that Mr. Levandowski should not bring any Google 

information into Uber and that Uber did not want any Google information. 

Shortly thereafter, Mr. Levandowski communicated to Uber that he had destroyed 

the discs. Uber never received those discs, and does not know whether those 

discs contained any of the “DOWNLOADED MATERIALS.” 

(Ex. 1 at 4.) Also, in a recent deposition, Mr. Ron — one of the two Managing Members for 

Defendant Otto Trucking —

. (Ex. 5 (Ron Depo. Tr.) at 

90:16-94:4, 266:4-14.) Mr. Poetzscher, (Ex. 6

(Poetzscher Depo. Tr.) at 21:24-22:1), 

 (id. at 259:1-7) . 

V. DEFENDANT OTTO TRUCKING FAILS TO EXERCISE ITS FULL AUTHORITY 

TO CAUSE MR. LEVANDOWSKI TO RETURN THE DOWNLOADED 

MATERIALS

Mr. Levandowski is an officer of Defendant Otto Trucking — specifically, he is Otto 

Trucking’s sole Managing Member other than Mr. Ron. Given Otto Trucking’s obligations under 

the PI Order to “exercise the full extent of [its] corporate, employment, contractual, and other

authority” to cause Mr. Levandowski to return the downloaded materials, Waymo requested that 

Otto Trucking take action by 

 (Ex. 3 at 5-6 (6.7.17 email 

from L. Cooper to J. Cooper et al.).) Otto Trucking responded that it would not or could not take 

the step. It reasoned that 

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 (Id. at 4 (6.8.17 email from Walsh to J. Cooper et al.).) (internal citation 

omitted). Otto Trucking later doubled down, asserting, despite this Court’s rulings to the contrary 

(Dkt. 426 at 23 fn. 9, 6.7.17 Hearing Tr. 93:8-24), that taking any action against Mr. Levandowski 

for refusing to obey the Court’s Order is not only impossible, but would violate Mr. 

Levandowski’s Fifth Amendment rights:

As reflected in the various agreements, 

Further, we believe that attempting to 

coerce Mr. Levandowski to agree to take punitive action against himself if he 

refuses to waive his 5th Amendment rights raises constitutional issues that are 

unique and different from those raised by the Court’s direction to Uber to take 

punitive action against Mr. Levandowski. We also do not believe that Judge Alsup 

intended to require such action through the preliminary injunction order.

(Id. at 2 (6.12.17 email from S. Brun to J. Cooper).)

Notably, Mr. Ron testified in deposition that 

. (Ex. 5 (Ron Depo. Tr.) at 25:23-26:18, 53:22-54:24.) 

VI. DEFENDANTS FAIL TO EXERCISE THEIR FULL AUTHORITY TO CAUSE 

THEIR AGENT, MOFO, TO RETURN THE DOWNLOADED MATERIALS 

The parties met and conferred on June 1 regarding Defendants’ compliance (or lack 

thereof) with Paragraph 2 of the Court’s PI Order, and Waymo promptly memorialized that 

discussion on June 2. (Ex. 7 at 3 (6.2.17 J. Judah email to J. Cooper et al.).) On the June 1 meet 

and confer, in response to a direct question from Waymo, MoFo represented that “it does not have 

any of the materials that Anthony Levandowski downloaded from Waymo and kept upon leaving 

Waymo’s employment, regardless of how long he kept them for and whether or not any such 

materials qualify as trade secrets or proprietary or confidential information (the ‘downloaded 

materials’), or any copies, excerpts, or summaries of the downloaded materials.” (Id.) 

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However, almost two weeks later, on June 12, counsel at BFS (oddly, not MoFo) emailed 

Waymo to explain that what MoFo had represented on June 1 was not accurate. BFS explained 

that, “to be sure the record is clear and accurate,” they needed to provide certain “caveats and 

clarifications” to what MoFo had said on the June 1 call. (Id. at 1.) 

Significantly, BFS “clarified” that MoFo, Defendants’ agent, did have some of the 

downloaded materials:

2. MoFo does not have any downloaded materials (or any copies, excerpts or 

summaries thereof), except to the extent that any such material may appear: (1) 

excerpted in or as an exhibit to the Stroz Report, which is privileged; and (2) in 

certain materials AL and other persons provided to Stroz to which MoFo was 

given limited access during the Stroz investigation pursuant to the terms of the 

AL-Stroz contract and the protocol governing the investigation, and under strict 

conditions preventing MoFo from sharing those materials with anyone, including 

Uber.

(Id. (emphasis added).) Defendants have never explained why MoFo’s possession of stolen files 

was not revealed until June 12, why those stolen files were not returned to Waymo on March 31 or 

May 31, or how the terms of an unproduced contract between two third-parties (Mr. Levandowski 

and Stroz) could prevent MoFo from returning the stolen files or prevent Defendants from 

requiring MoFo to do so. 

ARGUMENT

“Federal courts have the power to enforce compliance with their orders. One way is 

through holding a party in civil contempt.” Perez v. i2a Techs., Inc., No. C 15-04963 WHA, 2015 

WL 7753330, at *3 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 2, 2015) (Alsup, J.). “To establish a prima facie case for civil 

contempt, the moving party must establish by clear and convincing evidence that the defendants: 

(1) violated a court order, (2) beyond substantial compliance, and (3) such violation was not based 

on a good faith and reasonable interpretation of the order.” Id.; see also Perez v. RMRF Enter., 

Inc., No. C 13-80059 SI, 2014 WL 3869935, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 6, 2014) (same). 

Applying these factors, Defendants should be held in civil contempt for: (1) failing to 

“exercise the full extent of their corporate, employment, contractual, and other authority” to cause 

their agent Stroz Friedberg to return all materials in Stroz Friedberg’s possession that Anthony 

Levandowski downloaded from Waymo’s servers; (2) failing to timely notify Waymo and the 

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Court about the apparent destruction of five discs of downloaded materials; (3) failing to “exercise 

the full extent of their corporate, employment, contractual, and other authority” to cause their 

agent, Morrison & Foerster, LLP (“MoFo”) to return the downloaded materials; and (4) failing to 

“exercise the full extent of their corporate, employment, contractual, and other authority” to cause

Otto Trucking’s officer, Mr. Levandowski, to return the downloaded materials

I. DEFENDANTS ARE IN CONTEMPT FOR FAILING TO TAKE ALL STEPS TO 

CAUSE STROZ TO RETURN THE DOWNLOADED MATERIALS

A. Defendants Violated the PI Order and Expedited Discovery Order With 

Respect to Stroz

As noted above, the Court’s PI Order required Defendants to “exercise the full extent of 

their corporate, employment, contractual, and other authority” to cause their “officers, directors, 

employees, and agents” to “return the downloaded materials and all copies, excerpts, and 

summaries thereof to Waymo (or the Court) by MAY 31 AT NOON.” (Dkt. 426 at 23 ¶ 2.) The 

Expedited Discovery Order required that Defendants produce these materials by March 31. (Dkt. 

61 at 2 ¶ 4.) 

As detailed above (Statement of Facts § II, supra), there is no dispute that Stroz is 

Defendants’ agent. Yet May 31 (not to mention March 31) has come and gone, and Defendants 

have refused to use their full authority to persuade or compel Stroz to return any of the 

downloaded materials that Stroz possesses (as required by the PI Order) so that Defendants could 

produce these materials (as required by the Expedited Discovery Order). Thus, Defendants have 

violated both Orders. Nor do Defendants have any reasonable or good faith excuse for this 

violation, as discussed in Section I(C), infra. 

Nor, for that matter, have Defendants ever denied that Stroz possesses at least some of the 

downloaded materials. Indeed, the facts of this case raise a strong inference that Stroz does indeed 

possess these documents. Consider, for example, the very first privilege log that Defendants 

produced, in response to the Court’s March 16 order for Defendants to produce the downloaded 

materials. This document was replete with references to Stroz — though Stroz’s name was 

originally and improperly redacted. Defendants have provided no explanation (and no explanation 

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is apparent) for why Stroz would have been listed on this privilege log, except that Stroz possesses 

the downloaded materials that this log was designed to address. 

B. Defendants’ Violation Was “Beyond Substantial Compliance”

There can be no doubt that Defendants’ violation is “beyond substantial compliance.” 

Indeed, Defendants have fallen short of substantial compliance in two distinct ways. 

First, to date, the only effort that Defendants have made to induce or persuade Stroz to 

return the downloaded materials is Uber’s and Ottomotto’s June 12 letter to Stroz, in which they 

state that they “want” Stroz to return the downloaded materials but then state in the next breath 

that they “do not have the contractual power to order Stroz to produce such materials to Waymo.” 

(Ex. 4 at 2 ¶ 4 (6.12.17 Ltr. from K. Dunn to S. Brown).) The lukewarm and equivocal nature of 

this letter is underscored by the final substantive sentence, which states that “if Stroz . . . believes 

it is able to produce any Google Information it may have to Waymo based solely on the wishes 

expressed by Uber and Ottomotto in this letter, but without the consent of Levandowski, it may do 

so immediately.” (Id. (emphasis added).) For its part, Otto Trucking has made no request to Stroz 

at all.

Needless to say, this equivocal request falls far short of “exercis[ing] the full extent of 

[Defendants’] corporate, employment, contractual, and other authority” to compel Stroz to return 

the downloaded materials. Defendants do not, for example, order Stroz to return these materials. 

They do not say that they will fire Stroz if Stroz fails to comply. They do not say that they will 

withhold future business from Stroz if Stroz fails to comply. A lukewarm and equivocal statement 

that Defendants “want” Stroz to return the downloaded materials simply does not come close to 

discharging Defendants’ obligation to “exercise the full extent of their corporate, employment, 

contractual, and other authority” to compel Stroz to return these materials. Thus, Defendants’ 

violation of the PI Order is “beyond substantial compliance.” Perez, 2014 WL 3869935 at *2 

(“substantial compliance” standard requires that “every reasonable effort has been made to 

comply.”) 

Defendants’ violation is also beyond substantial compliance for a different reason. Even if 

the June 12 letter to Stroz was substantively sufficient to discharge their obligations under the PI 

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Order, this letter was not sent until June 12. Yet the deadline for Defendants to “exercise the full 

extent of their corporate, employment, contractual, and other authority” to compel Stroz to return 

these materials was May 31. The deadline for Defendants to produce these materials under the 

Expedited Discovery Order was March 31. Thus, Defendants violated the Court’s deadlines by 

weeks to months, which is far too long a delay to constitute “substantial compliance” —

particularly given the sensitive nature of the documents, the risks that Waymo suffers by having 

these documents in others’ hands, and the compressed nature of this litigation. Clearly Defendants 

could have sent their letter to Stroz by the Court’s deadlines, had they employed “every reasonable 

effort” to do so. Perez, 2014 WL 3869935 at *2. 

C. Defendants’ Violation Is Not Based on a Good Faith and Reasonable 

Interpretation of the PI Order or Expedited Discovery Order

There is no good faith reading of the Court’s Orders that would excuse Defendants’ 

conduct. The lead reason that Defendants offered in correspondence for why they did not ask 

Stroz to return the downloaded materials was that these materials are “Mr. Levandowski’s 

personal property.” (Ex. 2 at 3 (5.31.17 email from W. Ray to A. Roberts).) This argument is 

absurd. The downloaded materials at issue in the PI Order were explicitly defined as “all 

materials that Anthony Levandowski downloaded from Waymo and kept upon leaving Waymo’s 

employment.” (Dkt. 426 at 22 ¶ 1.) They are not Mr. Levandowski’s property; they are Waymo’s 

property. Defendants cannot credibly argue that the materials that Mr. Levandowski stole from 

Waymo have been somehow transmuted into “Mr. Levandowski’s personal property.” Nor 

(needless to say) could any contract between Mr. Levandowski and Stroz convert these materials 

from Waymo’s property into Mr. Levandowski’s property. 

Defendants also stated in correspondence that they would not demand that Stroz turn over 

the downloaded materials because “Uber does not have control” of these materials and “Uber 

cannot compel a third party to produce documents that it does not control.” (Ex. 2 at 3 (5.31.17 

email from W. Ray to A. Roberts); see also Ex. 3 at 1 (6.14.17 email from J. Judah to S. Brun).) 

But this makes no sense. While Defendants may not presently have physical control over the 

materials in Stroz’s possession, they do have the power to direct that Stroz produce these materials 

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and to use their full contractual power to persuade Stroz to follow this directive. The PI Order did 

not demand impossible or superhuman efforts from Defendants, but it did require Defendants to 

use “the full extent of their corporate, employment, contractual, and other authority” to persuade 

or direct Stroz to return these materials. This would include, for example, ordering Stroz to return 

these materials and/or threatening to cut off business ties with Stroz should Stroz refuse to do so. 

But as detailed in Section I(B) above, Defendants have exercised far less than their “full authority”

to pressure Stroz to return the downloaded materials. 

Finally, while they have not so far proffered it as a reason for their non-compliance with 

the Court’s Preliminary Injunction Order, Defendants may argue that the deadline for them to use 

their “full authority” against Stroz has not yet arrived, given the Court’s order extending the PI 

compliance deadline from May 31 to June 23 “insofar as compliance would implicate either issues 

raised by non-party Anthony Levandowski’s motion to modify the May 11 provisional relief order 

(Dkt. No. 466) or privilege disputes currently pending before Judge Corley.” (Dkt. 499.) Yet this 

argument would be unavailing as well. Mr. Levandowski’s motion to modify the PI Order 

addresses whether the Court may order Uber to discipline Mr. Levandowski for failing to waive 

his Fifth Amendment rights; it does not implicate what actions Defendants can or cannot take 

against Stroz. Moreover, the Court never extended the March 31 deadline in the Expedited 

Discovery Order, so nothing can excuse Defendants’ failure to try to obtain the downloaded 

materials from Stroz so that they could be produced by that March 31 deadline. 

Nor does the privilege dispute now resolved by Judge Corley’s Order of June 5 implicate 

production of the Stroz Due Diligence Report and its attachments. (See Statement of Facts § II, 

supra.) Defendants seek to justify their failure to ask Stroz to return the downloaded materials 

based on the contention that the downloaded materials are somehow Mr. Levandowki’s personal 

property, not based on privilege. And in the privilege briefing before Judge Corley, Defendants 

never contended that wholesale production of the files that Mr. Levandowski gave to Stroz would 

implicate any privilege or protection. It follows a fortiori that Defendants’ ordering Stroz to 

return these files would not tread on any privilege or protection.

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In sum, Defendants’ obligation to order Stroz to return the downloaded materials does not 

implicate Mr. Levandowski’s motion to modify the PI Order, nor does it implicate the privilege 

dispute. Thus, the deadline for Defendants to comply with their PI Order obligations via-a-vis 

Stroz remains May 31, not June 23. Yet May 31 has come and gone, and Defendants have not 

used their “full authority” to direct and pressure Stroz to return the downloaded materials. Thus, 

Defendants have violated the PI Order.

II. DEFENDANTS ARE IN CONTEMPT FOR FAILING TO TAKE ALL STEPS TO 

CAUSE MOFO TO RETURN THE DOWNLOADED MATERIALS

As explained in Statement of Facts § VI, supra, BSF has now admitted that MoFo has had 

copies of at least some the downloaded materials for months now, as part of the Stroz 

investigation. BSF’s admission means that MoFo misrepresented to Waymo when it stated on 

June 1 that it did not possess these materials. It also means that MoFo (who is, after all, 

Defendants’ agent) violated the PI Order by not returning these materials by the May 31 deadline, 

and violated the Expedited Discovery Order by not returning these materials by March 31. 

Alternatively, Defendants violated the PI Order by not compelling MoFo to do so. 

This failure goes far beyond substantial compliance, and there is no good-faith or 

reasonable reading of the orders that would excuse it. BSF’s June 12 email argued that there were 

contractual restrictions that prevented MoFo from turning over the downloaded materials. 

(Statement of Facts § VI, supra.) But contractual restrictions cannot stymie or overcome the 

Court’s orders. If they could, then any party could relieve itself from a Court order by just 

entering into a contract forbidding compliance with the order. Needless to say, this is not the law. 

III. DEFENDANTS ARE IN CONTEMPT FOR FAILING TO TIMELY DISCLOSE 

THE DESTRUCTION OF FIVE DISCS OF DOWNLOADED MATERIALS 

As recounted above, the Court's Expedited Discovery Order required Defendants to 

disclose, by March 31, whether any of the downloaded materials had been destroyed. Defendants 

did not disclose any destruction by that date. However, it its June 8 interrogatory response, 

Defendant Uber disclosed that it has known since shortly after March 11, 2016 that Mr. 

Levandowski destroyed five discs containing Google information. Uber’s failure to disclose this 

destruction by March 31 is a blatant violation of the Expedited Discovery Order.

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Again, this failure goes far beyond substantial compliance, and there is no good-faith or 

reasonable reading of the Expedited Discovery Order that would excuse it. Uber did say in its 

interrogatory response that it “does not know whether those discs contained any of the 

‘DOWNLOADED MATERIALS.’” (Ex. 1 at 4.) Yet Uber knew that these discs contained 

Google information in Mr. Levandowski’s possession. If Uber’s interrogatory response is to be 

believed, it also was alarmed enough by these discs to emphasize to Mr. Levandowski that he 

“should not bring any Google information into Uber and that Uber did not want any Google 

information.” (Id.) Mr. Poetzscher —

 (Ex. 6 at 253-256 (Poetzscher Depo.).) Even if Uber did not “know” to a certainty that the 

discs contained downloaded materials, these facts and circumstances raise an exceedingly strong 

inference that the discs did indeed contain downloaded materials — i.e., materials that Mr. 

Levandowski downloaded from Waymo before leaving Waymo. It is difficult if not impossible to 

see any other way that Mr. Levandowski could have come to possess five discs of Google/Waymo 

information in the first place. Thus, for Uber to fairly honor and obey the Expedited Discovery 

Order, it needed to disclose this destruction by March 31. By failing to do so, Uber is in contempt 

of the Expedited Discovery Order.

Otto Trucking is in contempt of the Expedited Discovery Order for the same reason. As 

shown in Uber’s interrogatory response and 

 Yet, like Uber, Otto Trucking failed to disclose this fact by the 

March 31 deadline under the Expedited Discovery Order. 

IV. DEFENDANT OTTO TRUCKING IS IN CONTEMPT FOR FAILING TO TAKE 

ALL CORPORATE STEPS TO PRESSURE MR. LEVANDOWSKI TO RETURN 

THE DOWNLOADED MATERIALS

As noted above, Otto Trucking has failed to take all available corporate steps to pressure 

Mr. Levandowski to return the downloaded materials. (Statement of Facts § IV, supra.) 

Specifically, 

— should he fail to return the 

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downloaded materials. (Id.) Yet Otto Trucking has refused to take this step. (Id.) By failing to 

take this significant step, Otto Trucking has failed to comply with the PI Order or Expedited 

Discovery Order, and its failure falls well short of “substantial compliance.”

Nor has Otto Trucking proffered any good faith or reasonable interpretation of the Orders 

that would excuse its failure. As noted above, Otto Trucking’s only proffered excuse is to say that 

it cannot take this step 

 But this 

excuse makes no sense. If Mr. Levandowski —

that would simply mean that Otto Trucking 

(through its Managing Members) has refused to take all steps to compel return of the downloaded 

materials. In other words, Mr. Levandowski’s recalcitrance would simply be what puts Otto 

Trucking in contempt of the PI Order. 

 By refusing to exercise this power, Otto Trucking is in 

contempt of the PI Order and Expedited Discovery Order.

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, Waymo respectfully requests that the Court issue an Order to 

Show Cause why Defendants should not be held in civil contempt of the PI Order and Expedited 

Discovery Order.3 

DATED: June 21, 2017 QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART & SULLIVAN, 

LLP

By /s/ Charles K. Verhoeven

Charles K. Verhoeven

Attorneys for WAYMO LLC

 

3

 Should the Court ultimately find Defendants in contempt, Waymo requests that Waymo be 

permitted to propose remedies for contempt commensurate with the Court’s findings, which could 

include further provisional relief, evidentiary sanctions, and/or adverse inferences.

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