I'm not particularly committing to either hypothesis right now. If Uber is indeed screwing around with discovery I would imagine they're going to end up in very big trouble. I for one would pretty much consider that prima facie evidence every executive even remotely involved in that decision, including simply being aware of it, should be immediately fired by the shareholders and everything possible clawed back from them. I don't consider that out of the question, but it's a pretty serious accusation on its own. Uber's kinda big to get away with that sort of shenanigan.
Then again, a large part of Uber's success has been built upon shenanigans. It seems likely that they might develop an arrogance towards the legal system, after years of playing chicken with it.
Unfortunately for them, the combination of Google alleging massive theft, the issues around Applebaum, and the high profile exit of some of their execs, none of that is likely to work.
I certainly don't know the details, but it's hard for me to see a resolution to this where Uber isn't in trouble. Travis Kalanick has publicly stated that self-driving cars are necessary for the future of Uber, and anything that even puts a damper on that (in addition to all the talent they've already lost) is enough to likely kill them as - according to leaked financials - they are already hemorrhaging money.
I've never been bullish on Uber, but this is really bad.
1) If the suit is true, then it will almost certainly zero out the investors, and destroy the careers and fortunes of the executives.
2) Uber has a long history of keeping and promoting executives who lack integrity and show a willingness to break the law.
As such, it is reasonable to assume that Google is making a good faith effort to argue the strongest possible case on their side; and that Uber is likely to lie, cheat, and steal to make the strongest possible case on their side.
