Zuckerberg Sued By Ex-Household Staff For Alleged Harassment At Family Firm - Reports

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are facing a pair of lawsuits filed by two former household employees over claims of inappropriate behavior, including harassment and discrimination, they allegedly suffered from the family company staff, the NBC broadcaster reported on Wednesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th October, 2021) Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are facing a pair of lawsuits filed by two former household employees over claims of inappropriate behavior, including harassment and discrimination, they allegedly suffered from the family company staff, the NBC broadcaster reported on Wednesday.

One of the plaintiffs in the cases is Mia King, a Black woman and member of the LGBTQ community who worked for Limitless Specialty Services LLC, which provides security services for the Zuckerberg family, from May 2018 to February 2019. Another one is an unnamed man referred to as John Doe, an openly gay man who worked as the household operations manager for the billionaire couple from January 2017 to March 2019.

According to the court filings, the two accuse Chan and Zuckerberg of allegedly failing to pay wages and hold the family business responsible for sexual harassment and discrimination by company employees, the broadcaster said, noting that Facebook itself is not involved in the lawsuits.

Commenting on the matter, Ben LaBolt, a spokesperson for the Chan-Zuckerberg family, told NBC that "separate multi-week investigations into the allegations" established that they "could not be substantiated.

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"We are proud of the team of professionals who work in the family office and are confident that these claims, which seek to unfairly disparage our colleagues, will fail," LaBolt said, declining to respond to further questions.

No hearings have been scheduled in the cases, the broadcaster said, adding that neither Zuckerberg nor any of the other named defendants have formally responded in court to the allegations in the cases.

The lawsuits come on the heels of an avalanche of criticism directed at Facebook for the social media platform's negative effects on children. Earlier this month, a former product manager, Frances Haugen, told Congress that Facebook was allegedly aware that it inflicted harm on the mental health of teenagers, but did not do much to prevent content promoting hate and division, but putting profit over users' safety instead. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg dismissed the accusations, saying the company cares deeply about issues like safety, well-being and mental health.