Plaintiff Seeks to Remand Privacy Case vs. Google, PHE to Calif. State Court

from U.S. District Court for Central California in Los Angeles. Doe originally filed her action alleging PHE disclosed her private and protected sexual information, plus her IP address, in the Central California district court Sept. 25. The case was dismissed and Doe then added Google to the lawsuit and filed in state court; Google removed the case to district court last month (see 2402080070). Doe, a Los Angeles resident, alleges PHE caused Google to learn the contents of her private and protected sexual information without notifying her and without her consent, and that Google violated CIPA each time it “read, learned from, and/or utilized” that information without her consent. Both defendants violated CIPA by operating under an agreement under which PHE installed Google Analytics to disclose Doe’s protected sexual information “in exchange for payment or another form of consideration,” says the complaint. The putative class comprises California residents solely, satisfying the local controversy exception for remand to state court, said the motion, and Google is also a citizen of California. The plaintiff and class members seek statutory damages of $5,000 for each time Google “read, learned the contents of” and used information obtained from a message or communication between PHE and the class without consent. Google’s potential exposure in the action is $5 million or more, it said.