Seattle Business Files Class-Action Lawsuit Against Google, Alleges Breach of Contract
Consumer law firms Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP and Webb, Klase & Lemond, LLC have filed a class action lawsuit against Google, LLC based on its treatment of customers who signed up for Workspace (formerly G Suite or Google Apps) during the several years when Google promised that the service would be “free-for-life.” The suit has been filed in federal district court in San Jose, California. The Class Action Complaint alleges that, in order to entice early adopter customers to sign up for the service that is now known as Google Workspace, Google promised them free service for as long as Google offered the service. Google entered into this bargain, according to the Complaint, so it could benefit from these customers’ experiences and use of the service to develop and fine-tune the service, with the goal of putting Google in a position to eventually market the service to other customers for a fee.
According to the Complaint, beginning in January of 2012, all new customers signing up for Workspace were required to pay for the service. Paid customers pay a monthly fee per user, such as $12 per employee/user, for a basic version of Workspace. The Complaint alleges, however, that until recently, Google had never mentioned breaking the “free-for-life” promise made to the early adopters of Workspace. The suit contends that, in January 2022, Google announced to its “free-for-life” customers that it was going to completely stop providing their free service, even though Google continued to offer the same Workspace suite of products.
