Facebook’s Parent Company is Unable to Halt a Court Case in Kenya

The Facebook parent company Meta may be sued in Kenya, according to a decision by the Employment and Labour Relations Court.

Daniel Motaung, a former Facebook moderator from South Africa, sued the social media platform for creating a hostile work environment, but Justice Jacob Gakeri declined to dismiss Meta Platforms Inc. and Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. from the lawsuit.

“My finding is that 2nd and 3rd respondent shall not be struck,” the judge said.

Meta wanted to be removed from the case, arguing that Kenyan courts do not have jurisdiction since the foreign corporations are not domiciled or trading in Kenya.

The multinational also said Mr Motaung did not seek the permission of the court, before filing the case.

Mr. Motaung filed the lawsuit last year, alleging that his repeated exposure to extremely upsetting, graphic violent content combined with a toxic workplace caused him and his co-workers to suffer psychological trauma.

As a moderator, Mr. Motaung was hired by Samasource Kenya EPZ Ltd., a local outsourcing firm owned by Meta. He demands compensation for the pain he endured while working for the company for six months and for the additional hours he put in without being compensated.

Many moderators allegedly quit Samasource in January 2021, and the company made the content moderators work longer hours in place of finding replacements, according to Mr. Motaung.

The South African was prohibited from testifying against the company by a non-disclosure agreement that he signed as a moderator, according to Meta’s claim that the South African neglected to disclose to the court.

The case will be mentioned on March 8 for directions.