Alphabet’s Google won’t face a jury trial over its alleged digital promoting dominance after the corporate paid $2.3 million to cover the US government’s claim of monetary damages, a federal judge ruled Friday.
Because non-monetary demands are heard by judges directly in antitrust cases, Google’s payment implies that it avoids a jury trial. The corporate had said it will have been the first-ever jury trial in a civil antitrust case lodged by the Justice Department.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states sued the tech giant last 12 months, claiming it was unlawfully monopolizing digital promoting and overcharging users. The lawsuit seeks primarily to interrupt up Google’s digital promoting business to permit for more competition.
US District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Va., made the ruling on Friday and scheduled the non-jury trial for Sept. 9, when she is going to hear arguments to come to a decision the case directly.
Google has denied wrongdoing and said it was not admitting liability by submitting a damages payment. “DOJ’s contrived damages claim has disintegrated,” the corporate said in statement on Friday, calling the case a “meritless try and pick winners and losers in a highly competitive industry.”
A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.
Google said last month the federal government, which had initially claimed greater than $100 million in damages, requested lower than $1 million in damages. Google’s $2.3 million payment accounts for interest and for the potential for damages to be tripled under US antitrust law.
Google had accused the federal government of producing its monetary damages claim to be able to ensure a jury trial.
The Justice Department responded that it was open to resolving the cash damages a part of its case, but provided that Google cut a bigger check.
“Google has fought hard to maintain its anticompetitive conduct shielded from public view,” the federal government told Brinkema last month.
