Kenya judge finds Meta is not in contempt of court (updated)
07/12/2023 17:29
(Adds Sama comment)
NAIROBI, Dec 7 (Reuters) - A Kenyan judge on Thursday
found Facebook's parent company Meta META.O was not in
contempt of court for failing to pay dozens of content
moderators that a contractor laid off.
Labour judge Mathews Nduma Nderi said Meta did not
"deliberately and contemptuously" breach a court order requiring
it to pay wages of hundreds of Facebook content moderators.
"They did various things which they thought were lawful in
trying to deal with their situation but we did not find that
what they did amounted to contempt," Nderi said.
This year, 184 moderators sued Meta and two contractors,
saying their union organising efforts had cost them their jobs
with one of the firms, Sama.
The plaintiffs alleged they were then blacklisted from
applying for the same roles at the second firm, Majorel, after
Facebook changed contractors. Out-of-court settlement talks
collapsed in October.
A Meta spokesman declined to comment.
Sama said in a statement it was pleased with the ruling that
both it and Meta were not in contempt of court. "The Kenyan
court once again affirmed its desire to see this matter settled
out of court, and we remain open and eager to work with
petitioners directly to find an amicable solution," it added.
Majorel did not respond to a request for comment.
Meta has previously responded to allegations of a poor
working environment in Kenya by saying it requires partners to
provide industry-leading conditions.
Sama said previously that it had always followed Kenyan law
and provided mental health services to its employees. Majorel
has said it does not comment on pending or active litigation.
Nderi accepted a request by the plaintiffs' lawyer Merci
Mutemi to be given 45 days to amend the contempt of court
petition, and said that unless the matter was resolved out of
court, the case would be given priority for the court to
determine its merits.
British tech rights group Foxglove, which is supporting the
plaintiffs, said it was eager to bring the case to trial.
"We remain confident of our case overall, as we have
prevailed on every substantive point so far," Foxglove director
Martha Dark said in a statement to Reuters. "The most important
ruling remains the one we won in June: Meta can no longer hide
behind outsourcers to excuse the exploitation and abuse of its
content moderators."
(Reporting by Humphrey Malalo and Hereward Holland; Writing by
Hereward Holland; Editing by Aaron Ross, Barbara Lewis and David
Gregorio)
((hereward.holland@thomsonreuters.com; +254 20 499 1232;
Reuters Messaging:
hereward.holland.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))