There seems more trouble for Meta’s former COO Sheryl Sandberg. Just days after, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg put the blame for all so-called wrong policies in the company on her, now comes a damning legal case. According to a report in Tech Crunch, Sandberg has been sanctioned by a Delaware judge for allegedly deleting emails related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.This stems from a shareholder lawsuit filed late last year against Sandberg and former Meta board member Jeff Zients.
What the shareholders have to say
The shareholders allege that Sandberg and Zients used personal email accounts to discuss matters related to a 2018 lawsuit accusing Facebook leaders of violating the law and their fiduciary duties regarding user privacy. They further claim that Sandberg and Zients deleted emails from these personal accounts despite a court order not to. The judge found these allegations credible.
The judge’s decision states that Sandberg used a personal Gmail account under a pseudonym for communications relevant to the case. The judge also noted inconsistencies in Sandberg’s responses to interrogatories and plaintiffs’ questions, suggesting she selectively deleted emails rather than using an auto-delete function.
As a sanction, the judge has raised the burden of proof for Sandberg’s affirmative defense. She must now prove her defense with “clear and convincing” evidence, a higher standard than the usual “preponderance” of evidence. The judge also awarded certain expenses to the plaintiffs.
A spokesperson for Sandberg maintains that the plaintiffs’ claims are without merit, stating that “all work emails were preserved on Facebook’s servers.”
The underlying issue involves allegations that Meta violated a 2012 FTC order prohibiting the company from collecting and sharing user data without consent. Facebook allegedly sold data to commercial partners, including Cambridge Analytica, and removed required disclosures from privacy settings. Meta previously paid a $5 billion fine to the FTC in 2019 for violating this order and has also faced penalties from European regulators.
