Regarding unjust enrichment, the judge allowed the claim to continue, though she noted that the plaintiffs had not demonstrated that they lacked an “adequate remedy at law” for restitution or disgorgement. Nonetheless, the plaintiffs may still seek equitable relief, such as an injunction, to prevent future harm.
Vance and Janecyk had previously filed a separate lawsuit against IBM in Illinois state court, claiming it collected their facial data without consent. Nearly identical cases have been filed in California against Google and other tech companies, including FaceFirst, Amazon, and Microsoft.
Google and the plaintiffs’ legal teams did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.
The case is Steven Vance et al. v. Google LLC, case number 5:20-cv-04696, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The plaintiffs are represented by Gary F. Lynch of Lynch Carpenter LLP, Scott R. Drury of Drury Legal LLC, Todd D. Carpenter of Lynch Carpenter LLP, and Katrina Carroll of Lynch Carpenter LLP. Google is represented by Bobbie J. Wilson, Sunita Bali, Susan D. Fahringer, Lauren J. Tsuji, and Anna Mouw Thompson of Perkins Coie LLP.
