Uber's Contract With Notorious Employee Apparently Included Bad Behavior Clause

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

It would seem Waymo’s case against Uber is progressing at the latter’s expense. Anthony Levandowski, the former Uber employee at the center of the intellectual property theft, was apparently covered in writing for any legal action taken against for things like… fraud and stealing trade secrets.

The clause, which is literally outlined as “Pre-Signing Bad Acts” in the contract, was part of closed documents U.S. District Judge William Alsup previously assumed would be invaluable in progressing the case. Alphabet, which owns Waymo, accused Uber of being complicit in Levandowski’s alleged theft – suggesting the ride-sharing rival intentionally hired him in the hopes he would bring inside information acquired during his tenure at Google. It was a notion Alsup also seemed more than willing to entertain.

“It remains entirely possible that Uber knowingly left Levandowski free to keep that treasure trove of files as handy as he wished [provided he keep the data on his own personal devices], and that Uber willfully refused to tell Levandowski to return the treasure trove to its rightful owner,” the judge said back in May.

Uber’s contract with the engineer further bolsters that assumption, as it specifically promises to cover the costs of legal actions taken against him over information stored in his head from his previous position at Alphabet.

Jim Pooley, a lawyer at Orrick in Menlo Park, California, told The Washington Post and Bloomberg that he has never seen a written agreement that makes an overt and explicit reference to bad acts. “What Uber did was to leave the door open for Levandowski to use whatever he remembered of Waymo’s trade secret information, so long as he didn’t deliberately memorize it,” the lawyer explained.

Pooley views the documents as particularly damning, as it suggests Uber either knew or assumed their new hire had stolen trade secrets. However, the ride-sharing firm’s legal representation is claiming the “bad acts” clause was simply a case of Uber being extra careful.

“This provision shows how serious we were about preventing any Waymo trade secrets from ever coming to Uber,” Matt Kallman, a spokesman for Uber, said in an emailed statement. “We explicitly did not want any Otto employee using any such information, whatever its source. The law in California recognizes that while it is of course not possible to erase people’s memories, that does not prevent employees from changing jobs, even between competitors. The law permits those employees to use their expertise to do their jobs.”

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Detroit-X Detroit-X on Jun 24, 2017

    An amazing lack of TTAC comment on this topic. I.E. There is no debate of the jerks running Uber. Evidence in court, I would say. Shame on them.

    • Art Vandelay Art Vandelay on Jun 25, 2017

      If Uber was a service that provided mid sized trucks there would be 400 comments by now.

  • Speedlaw Speedlaw on Jun 26, 2017

    Taxi laws do function as restraint of trade, (thinking the NYC Medallion scam) but A business that is founded on total defiance of... Driver licensing.... Car inspections.... Local Regulations.... Proper insurance coverage for a public conveyance.... Uber is simply a leverage of other people's cars, and time... Other People's Money, but instead of it bing a big loan, Uber figured out a way to use "the little people". What could go wrong ?

  • AZFelix Hilux technical, preferably with a swivel mount.
  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
  • Carson D The UAW has succeeded in organizing a US VW plant before. There's a reason they don't teach history in the schools any longer. People wouldn't make the same mistakes.
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