Alphabet's (GOOG) Google has reportedly been awarded a settlement of $179 million in a lawsuit where the company claimed that a former employee conspired with Uber’s (UBER) self-driving unit on trade secrets that were proprietary to Waymo’s self-driving car division.

The employee, Anthony Levandowski, who once led Waymo, was ordered to pay the settlement award and has now filed for bankruptcy protection, The Washington Post reported.

Beyond the settlement, Levandowski is also facing criminal charges and could face as much as 10 years in prison if he is found guilty of the 33 indictment charges against him. Levandowski allegedly stole files that reportedly held trade secrets from Waymo, but he denies the charges against him.

Levandowski, who left Google in 2016, founded autonomous trucking company, Otto, which was then acquired by Uber for $700 million. Six months after the acquisition, Google filed a lawsuit against Uber, claiming the ride-share company conspired with Levandowski to steal Waymo’s trade secrets, the news outlet said.

The reported charges against Levandowski claim that he downloaded Google property on a personal laptop before he left Waymo and started Otto, later being fired for failing to cooperate with investigators.

While Uber settled with Google only five days after the trial started, agreeing to pay $244 million in a settlement award, Levandowski was sued by his former employer in a separate lawsuit in arbitration, according to The Post.

The lawsuit with Levandowski was finalized in December when the court awarded $179 million to Google. After review, the settlement amount was approved on Wednesday.

Uber reportedly agree to pay Levandowski legal fees and judgments that were placed against him as part of his employment with the company but has now said that the fees are “subject to a dispute between the two parties.”

During the trial with Google, Levandowski exercised his Fifth Amendment rights when he refused to turn over documents related to the case. The judge then recommended that a criminal investigation.

Shares of Google stock were down 2.76% as of 11:40 a.m. EST on Thursday while shares of Uber stock were down 5.07% at the same time.

Australian authorities claim Google made misleading on-screen representations about the location data it was collecting
Australian authorities claim Google made misleading on-screen representations about the location data it was collecting AFP / DENIS CHARLET
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