Ex-Facebook policy chief sues Meta to overturn order barring her from speaking about explosive memoir | Latest Tech News
A former Facebook policy government is suing Meta over an arbitration order that has barred her for more than a 12 months from speaking about her explosive memoir detailing her six-year tenure at the tech giant.
Sarah Wynn-Williams alleged Meta has used an invalid arbitration settlement to search financial penalties of $50,000 for each purported violation of the gag order – including each guide sale, according to a swimsuit filed Thursday in US District Court for the Northern District of California.
Her guide, “Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism,” a No. 1 New York Times bestseller, alleged Facebook executives and “careless” CEO Mark Zuckerberg had been keen to share data with the Chinese Communist Party in exchange for access to the Chinese market.
Meta whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams testifies during a Senate listening to on Capitol Hill on April 9, 2025. The Washington Post via Getty Images
Wynn-Williams also accused her former bosses of inappropriate harassment, alleging Joel Kaplan, Meta’s president of global affairs, pressed against her on the dance ground at a work event and called her “sultry.”
She also wrote that Sheryl Sandberg, Meta’s former chief working officer, spent $13,000 on lingerie for herself and a younger feminine assistant during a journey to Europe, and requested Wynn-Williams to be a part of her in “the only bed on the plane” during a flight home on a non-public jet.
“This former employee is trying to use the legal process to sell books, which an arbitrator already ruled broke the agreement she signed with the company when she accepted a large severance payment years ago,” a Meta spokesperson told The Post.
Wynn-Williams was fired in 2017 and an investigation at the time discovered she made false claims against her colleagues, according to the company. An inside investigation into Kaplan in the end cleared him of any wrongdoing, Meta has said.
Zuckerberg has said the company doesn’t operate its companies in China because it may never attain an settlement “on what it would take for us to operate there.”
A consultant for Sandberg declined to remark.
Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, was accused of urgent against Wynn-Williams during a work event and calling her “sultry.” REUTERS
Soon after Macmillan’s Flatiron imprint revealed Wynn-Williams guide in March 2025, an arbitrator ruled that she needed to stop making “disparaging, critical, or otherwise detrimental comments” about Facebook and its workers.
Wynn-Williams is looking for to get that arbitration order lifted, her severance settlement with Meta voided and compensatory damages for misplaced guide gross sales and speaking charges.
In the meantime, Wynn-Williams has seemingly discovered a manner around halting her public appearances altogether.
In May, she attended the Hay Festival, a prestigious literary event, as an skilled panelist on digital technology and public policy – but she sat on-stage in full silence for the full hour, per the advice of her lawyer.
After her look at the Hay Festival, which takes place in a small city on the border of England and Wales, gross sales of “Careless People” soared more than 300% in the UK, according to the Guardian.
A Meta consultant also traveled to the pageant, and Meta requested that the arbitrator sanction Wynn-Williams for attending the event, she alleged in her grievance.
Wynn-Williams accused Sheryl Sandberg (above) of spending $13,000 on lingerie for herself and a younger feminine assistant during a work journey. Getty Images
After she was fired from Meta, Wynn-Williams signed a severance settlement that included a non-disparagement settlement and necessary arbitration clauses, according to the lawsuit.
She alleged Meta had made its reimbursement of $300,000 in pre-approved business bills – including journey prices for Zuckerberg – conditional on her signing the settlement. Meta in the end reimbursed a fraction of the fees, the grievance said.
The tech giant also allegedly insisted she signal the severance settlement to keep healthcare coverage for herself and her kids, which was “critical” given a “life-threatening health condition” she skilled during childbirth, according to the grievance.
“Careless People” grew to become a No. 1 New York Times bestseller.
A 12 months later, Facebook announced it will no longer pressure workers to arbitrate claims associated to inappropriate harassment, and in 2022, California banned employers from utilizing separation agreements that prohibit the disclosure of unlawful work acts.
In a 2022 proxy assertion, Meta’s board wrote: “We do not require our personnel to enter into employment agreements that include non-disparagement clauses that would prevent them from discussing workplace conduct.”
Wynn-Williams believed this “policy shift permitted her” to communicate freely, “and that she would not be forced to arbitrate any claims” – so she filed whistleblower complaints with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice, and agreed to publish a guide, according to the grievance.
News Corp, The Post’s proprietor, has an AI content-licensing deal with Meta.
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