As reported by The Guardian, author, lawyer, and former Facebook employee Sarah Wynn-Williams is "on the verge of bankruptcy" after the publication of Careless People, her controversial memoir on her time working for Facebook. Since its publication in March, Meta has pushed back on the claims of misconduct in the book, resulting in a $50,000 fine for every breach of the non-disparagement agreement Wynn-Williams signed when she left Facebook in 2017.
British politician Louise Haigh, Labour Party member and MP for Sheffield Heeley, came to Wynn-Williams' defense in a debate in the House of Commons on Monday, stating, "Despite previous public statements that Meta no longer uses NDAs [non-disclosure agreements] in cases of sexual harassment – which Sarah has repeatedly alleged – she is being pushed to financial ruin through the arbitration system in the UK, as Meta seeks to silence and punish her for speaking out.
"Meta has served a gagging order on Sarah and is attempting to fine her $50,000 for every breach of that order. She is on the verge of bankruptcy. I am sure that the whole house and the government will stand with Sarah as we pass this legislation to ensure that whistleblowers and those with the moral courage to speak out are always protected."
Haigh has a history of speaking out against NDAs, including supporting legislation to ban the use of NDAs to cover up discrimination and harassment (like the situations Wynn-Williams describes in her book). Haigh's comments on Wynn-Williams come after an arbitration ruling in March that blocked the author from publicizing her book, although there was no penalty for the publisher, Macmillan.
Meta has so far denied Wynn-Williams' story, with Meta spokesperson Andy Stone calling her book "false and defamatory" in a post on X (formerly Twitter) back in March. Stone also brushed off another whistleblower's account of his time working with Meta earlier this month, saying in a post on Threads: "Sadly this is a familiar playbook in which a former employee is dismissed for poor performance and then goes public with distorted claims that misrepresent the ongoing hard work of our team."
Wynn-Williams' account of her experience as Facebook's director of global public policy includes claims of harassment and an overall toxic work culture. For instance, she describes being given a poor performance review when she was unavailable during maternity leave after nearly dying in childbirth.
