Uber has fired the engineer alleged of stealing secrets from Alphabet after he failed to help with an investigation associated to the lawsuit.
Anthony Levandowski, formerly worked on self-driving car innovation at Waymo, owned by Alphabet.
He is alleged of downloading 14,000 private files before leaving the company last year.
Uber rejects it is using stolen technology.
In a court filing previous month, Uber maintained its innovation is different. It explained the claim that staff members brought files to Uber with the goal of creating “copycat” technology as “demonstrably” false.
Mr. Levandowski has refused to testify in the case, launched in February.
The firing was verified by an Uber spokesperson, who stated it was effective Tuesday.
Anthony Levandowski had already been eliminated from dealing with the self-driving vehicle technology at the heart of the lawsuit.
He started operating at Uber in August last year, when the firm purchased Otto, the self-driving truck start-up he created in the 6 months after leaving Google.
He refused to testify earlier this year, mentioning his right to avoid self-incrimination.
Uber says that its technology is different than Waymo’s and says there isn’t any proof the files are on its servers. But its search did not consist Mr Levandowski’s computer system.
Judge William Alsup, who is managing the case in San Francisco, earlier ordered Uber to return the thousands of “pilfered” files in concern by the end of the month.
A spokesperson for Uber stated the firing happened after Mr Levandowski failed to meet the due date that would allow Uber to cooperate with the judge’s order.
Lawyers for Mr Levandowski could not be reached for remark instantly.
