Meta won a legal victory over former employees who published all memoirs on Wednesday, an explosive, stating that he had temporarily banned the author from promoting or further distribution of copies.
Sarah Wynn-Williams announced last week “A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, Lost Idealism.” Meta pursued arbitration and argued that the book was prohibited under a non-discriminatory agreement she signed as an employee of Global Affairs.
At an emergency hearing Wednesday, arbitrator Nicholas Gowen found that Meta provided adequate evidence that Winn Williams may have breached the contract, according to a legal filing posted by Meta. The parties now begin private arbitration.
According to submissions, in addition to halting the promotion and sale of the book, Wynn Williams must refrain from further lightly paraaging, amplifying critical or other harmful comments. She must also withdraw all previous light parraging comments “within her control.”
The filing does not seem to limit publishing publishers, Flatiron Books, or its parent company, MacMillan, to the ongoing publication of memoirs.
Meta is vehemently denying the book's allegations.
The book was stated in a statement by Meta spokesman Andy Stone, who said it was “previously reported claims about the company and false accusations about our executives.” Wynn Williams was fired for a cause, he added, and the investigation at the time ruled that “she made an unfounded allegation of harassment.”
A Flatiron Books spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for Wynn-Williams, who worked for what was called Facebook from 2011 to 2018, did not comment.
The move to publish the arbitration declaration is one of the most powerful public denials of all memoirs of former employees, some of which have been issued over the past 20 years.
The meta-executive also responds to Mr. Winn Williams' claims online, calling most of them highly exaggerated or completely false.
Whether Wynn Williams' book will ultimately succeed or not is unclear whether Meta's attempt will ultimately succeed. In 2023, the National Labor Relations Commission ruled that it was generally illegal to provide a retirement agreement that prohibits the publication of potentially sloppy statements about previous employers, including discussing sexual harassment and sexual assault accusations.
In its 2022 Meta Shareholders Report, the company's board said its employees “do not require them to remain silent about harassment or discrimination,” and the company said it would “strictly prohibit retaliation against personnel” in order to speak out on these issues.
And in 2018, Meta said that employees would no longer force them to resolve sexual harassment claims in private arbitration, following a similar stance made by Google at the time.
Sheera Frenkel contributed the report.
