US DOJ Accuses Google Of Misusing Legal Privilege To Hide Sensitive Emails: WSJ

• The U.S. Justice Department alleged Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google improperly invoked the legal privilege to shield sensitive internal communications for years, the Wall Street Journal reports from U.S. district court filing.
• The DOJ wanted Google to turn over internal emails that it had withheld or censored in the antitrust case filed against it by state and federal governments.
• The DOJ alleged Google trained its employees to misuse the attorney-client privilege to hide ordinary business communications from discovery in litigation and government investigations.
• Google also taught them to add an attorney, a privileged label, and a generic `request’ for counsel’s advice to any sensitive business communications the employees or Google might wish to hide.
• Google defended its practices as legitimate and comparable to other big corporations.
• Price Action: GOOG shares closed lower by 0.24% at $2,729.57 on Monday.
• Photo by Okan Caliskan from Pixabay