A woman who once held a top position at Meta has taken the company to court, accusing it of working to shut down her ability to speak about her explosive insider memoir, “Careless People.”
The lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court in Northern California. It challenges a private arbitration order that prohibits Sarah Wynn-Williams and her legal team from speaking critically about Meta or promoting her book. The filing also argues that the non-disparagement clause in her severance agreement — which she signed when she departed the company — was agreed to under duress and should be thrown out.
Wynn-Williams held the title of director of global public policy at Facebook, which now operates under parent company Meta Platforms Inc. She worked there from 2011 until she was fired in 2017. Her memoir makes serious allegations about CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other company leaders, including claims about disturbing behavior and alleged efforts by Zuckerberg to curry favor with Chinese government officials. Meta has denied the book’s claims, saying Wynn-Williams broke her agreement and produced a work full of falsehoods.
According to the lawsuit, Meta is seeking $50,000 in penalties each time Wynn-Williams allegedly violates the non-disparagement terms — a financial threat she says has placed her under enormous pressure. She is asking a judge to lift the arbitration order and nullify her severance agreement entirely.
In a statement, Meta responded that its “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. Her book is divorced from reality, disparaging and riddled with false claims.”
The lawsuit paints a picture of aggressive corporate surveillance. According to the filing, Meta obtained an emergency gag order blocking Wynn-Williams from criticizing the company or even promoting her own book. For more than a year following the book’s publication, the lawsuit claims, Meta had representatives attend her public appearances and photograph her — all to document that she stayed silent about the company and her memoir.
The lawsuit goes even further, claiming Meta objected to Wynn-Williams simply attending a U.K. arts and literary festival earlier this year, where she sat silently on a panel — solely because other participants were known critics of the company.
“Meta is pursuing Ms. Wynn-Williams at the expense of free speech and legal constraints not only because she refused to bow to the greed and power of Meta, Mr. Zuckerberg, and other executives, but also to strike fear into the heart of anyone else who dares to consider speaking the truth about Meta’s unlawful and abusive practices in the public interest,” the lawsuit states.
