Counsel in Google Privacy Case Says Consolidation 'Not Appropriate,' Says Notice

Christopher Barulich's lawsuit against Home Depot and Google involves “a material part” of the same subject matter as Misael Ambriz v. Google, said Google’s notice of pendency (docket 2:24-cv-01253) of other actions or proceedings Thursday in U.S. District Court for Central California in Los Angeles. Barulich's class action alleges the retailer allows Google to access, record, read and learn the contents of customers’ calls via its Cloud Contact Center (CCAI) in violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) (see 2402160030). The Ambriz action is pending before U.S. District Judge Rita Lin in the Northern District of California. Google filed a motion to dismiss in Ambriz Jan. 16, and that motion is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday, said the filing. Barulich and Ambriz are both putative class actions alleging Google violated CIPA through CCAI, and in both actions, plaintiffs allege they called the customer service line of a Google customer, Home Depot and Verizon, that used CCAI. The plaintiffs allege they spoke to live customer service representatives while the Google software “provided assistance to the live agent in the background,” said the notice. Plaintiffs said Google through CCAI “eavesdropped” or “surreptitiously listened in and monitored” their conversations. Because the actions are both against Google, relate to the same technology, and involve many of the same facts and the legal issues, Google asked Barulich’s counsel for their position on consolidation with the Ambriz action, but on Tuesday, Barulich’s counsel communicated that they don’t believe consolidation with Ambriz is appropriate, the notice said.