“All of you said all said this would work!!! Shit! Shit! Shit!” Anthony Levandowski reportedly screamed after he was publicly accused of stealing trade secrets from Google.
That’s one of a litany of claims in a new lawsuit filed by Levandowski’s former nanny. The 81-page complaint accuses the engineer at the center of a high-profile lawsuit between Google and ride-hailing company Uber of paying a Tesla engineer for secrets and considering fleeing the country.
To catch you up, Anthony Levandowski is the engineer accused by Google’s self-driving car unit Waymo of stealing autonomous car trade secrets and bringing them to Uber.
He’s already facing a personal firestorm for the alleged theft. A criminal investigation is underway by the feds, and a dramatic trial is set to begin at the end of this month. But the suit filed by Levandowski’s former nanny, Erika Wong, sheds new light on the engineer’s alleged conduct over the last two years.
Wong, who says in the suit that she cared for Levandowski’s children from December 2016 to June 2017, accuses the engineer of a laundry list of employment law violations and also boasts significant knowledge of his personal and business life.
In one example, Wong says that Levandowski paid a Tesla engineer for updates on the automaker’s electric truck program. (Tesla debuted an electric semi in November, and Levandowski’s former electric truck startup Otto was purchased by Uber in 2016.)
From the complaint, which was first reported by Wired:
Levandowski pays cash or assets to a “Pat Green” via Hazlett, Steve Levandowski, or Suzanna Musick at Tesla to keep current with Tesla Trucking, non-lidar technology and Nvidia microchips that compete with Mobileye microchips.
When reached Tuesday morning by Jalopnik, a Tesla spokesperson declined to comment.
There’s also a vivid, colorful description of how Levandowski responded to Waymo’s decision to go public with a lawsuit last February, emphasis mineL
She noticed Levandowski was profusely sweating and walking around in circles in the living room. Wong sat at the dining table, close to Levandowski. Levandowski screamed “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” all evening. He stated, “How could they do this to me?” “Miles, what about the clause, you and Abby said this would work!! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
“What do I do with the discs? What do the contracts say?? Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” What about Ognen, John, Izzy, and Rich Bender? All of you said all said this would work!!! Shit! Shit! Shit!” It’s all mine, the money, the deals, it’s all mine. What about ‘the shit?’ These are all my fucking deals!!! All of you fucking attorneys and Randy said this would work!”
Then there’s the claim that he planned to flee to Canada and avoid prosecution:
The brothers also discussed that Anthony would be “fleeing” at some point as a fugitive by driving up to Alberta, Canada. Levandowski made the statement, “I’m not going to prison, fuck this. Gabby, Max, Adrienne (Adriana) have a copy, Ericka can travel this summer. I’m still selling and making money wherever “John” places me. Anthony Levandowski arranged for the children to still be able to visit him through Olsen and relatives, under the supervision of his lawyers.
It must be noted Wong’s suit contains some inaccuracies, as Wired points out. For instance, it says Levandowski lives in Oakland County, California, which isn’t a real place. But the allegations within the lengthy filing are specific: at times, Wong highlights specific names and license plate numbers she remembers. Levandowski’s attorneys dismissed the complaint in a statement to Wired, calling Wong’s lawsuit “frivolous.”
“The allegations in the lawsuit are a work of fiction. Levandowski is confident that the lawsuit will be dismissed by the courts,” the statement said. A management conference is scheduled for April.
Levandowski isn’t expected to testify in the Waymo-Uber case when trial begins later this month. Throughout the proceedings, so far, he’s exercised his Fifth Amendment rights.
We’ll update the post if we get more.