From the article there appears to be an arbitration path (based on the dollar amount quoted in the article, but they talk about it like it would be a lawsuit) - but Dad explicitly chose not to take it for some reason.
It would be very surprising if the ToS for Google Accounts didn't include an arbitration agreement.
Also, Dad had a paid Google One account - filled with apparently lots of data. He definitely has a legal path here and chose not to take it. Why?
My guess would be it happens far more often that you might realize, given Google's scale and breadth of services offered (paid and unpaid).
People have disputes all the time with big companies, and arbitration is how they are normally resolved. Arbitration is designed to 1) usually minimize the public risk to the company in the event of a loss, and 2) make the proceedings far more affordable for all parties involved.
Arbitration carries all the same weight and enforcement of a real lawsuit, but takes less time and is less costly.