Google wins $179 million from engineer who went to Uber

Google’s grip over a former star engineer is tightening, with a judge ruling he now owes the company $179 million stemming from his defection to Uber Technologies Inc. At the same time, Uber is trying to snatch away the legal shelter it offered Anthony Levandowski to guard against Google when he moved to the rideshare company. The developments come as Levandowski is in the thick of trying to fend off criminal charges that he stole trade secrets from Google.

Levandowski on Wednesday lost his bid to throw out the arbitration award based on Google’s claims that the engineer violated an agreement to not poach employees. The award has swelled by $52 million, due in large part to interest.“The numbers we’re dealing with here are pretty staggering, which means that the interest that’s running is considerable,” San Francisco Judge Ethan Schulman said at a Monday hearing.