With Google’s antitrust trial slated to start next week, its defense team has lost a key advisor over a sex-harassment scandal — and it’s got to be a painful blow for the search giant, in response to legal experts.
Late last month, Google cut ties with former FTC Commissioner and legal scholar Joshua Wright after he faced “a storm of sexual harassment allegations,” in response to a Bloomberg report.
Those included complaints from eight women, with some claiming Wright sent them flirtatious texts, and others saying he invited them on trips and booked a single hotel room.
Three claimed they’d sexual relationships with Wright and several other said they feared they’d lose opportunities in the event that they turned him down.
In response, a source near the situation said the devastating report “comes at a really poor time” for Google because it faces federal allegations that it used illegal deals with smartphone makers including Apple to create a monopoly for its search engine.
![Josh Wright](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/google-antitrust-joshwright.gif?w=600)
Indeed, Wright had helped construct Google’s legal and p.r. strategy ahead of the trial, which is slated to start in federal court in Washington on Tuesday, in response to sources.
“I’m certain they were planning to deploy him to attack the Department of Justice, write op-eds, and make phone calls behind the scenes,” the source told On The Money. “He’s their key antitrust voice on the fitting.”
One other insider compared Wright to legal scholar Robert Bork — a number one voice on antitrust law last century.
“Wright is the gold standard in the case of antitrust,” the source noted. “Not only did he lead the group, he acted as advisors to politicians, and created a pipeline of individuals who thought like him to take positions of power.”
Wright received thousands and thousands in advising fees from clients including Google and Amazon.
Big tech firms also donated thousands and thousands to George Mason Law School where he taught, in response to the report.
Over time, Wright authored quite a few articles in regards to the dangers of breaking up monopolies.
He argued that the present antitrust law created the “world’s most successful firms are within the US since the world’s best competition law is here.”
Nonetheless, he warned if the framework modified, “that’s soon to be a thing of the past.”