Court Should Reject Google's Request to Dismiss Gannett's State Law Claims: Plaintiffs

Google identified no procedural basis for its “extreme and prejudicial step,” requesting that the court dismiss Daily Mail and Gannett’s state law claims in In re: Google Digital Advertising Antitrust Litigation, and the court should reject its April 26 pre-motion letter to dismiss, said the plaintiffs’ letter Tuesday (docket 1:21-md-03010) to U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel for Southern New York in Manhattan. The court should also reject Google’s “meritless request” in the alternative to deny leave to amend, plaintiffs said. As stated in their pre-motion letter, the plaintiffs offered amendments to obviate or narrow the areas of dispute and to “'add factual details in support of their state law claims’ based on documents in discovery’”; the court granted leave to do so, said the letter. Google now objects to the proposed amendments, calling amended allegations “futile” and requesting dismissal of state law claims without the benefit of briefing, the letter said. The court already stated it didn’t intend to rule on any objection to an amendment “on the grounds of futility,” said the letter. Also, Google claims that the proposed amendments “somehow ‘muddy[]’ the bounds of discovery,” said the plaintiffs, but the proposed amendments “just add additional factual allegations in support,” the letter said. Google doesn’t content that plaintiffs' amendments require extension of fact discovery, set to close on June 28, it said. The company instead offers only “its own, belated desire to 'focus its efforts,'" which is no reason to reject an amendment that doesn’t expand the scope of discovery, it said. The lawsuit alleges Google's digital advertising practices violate U.S. antitrust and consumer protection laws.