The logo of American company Meta is displayed at the Vivatech technology startups and innovation expo at the Porte de Versailles Exhibition Center in Paris on May 22, 2024.
Julian DeRosa | AFP | Getty Images
predecessor Yuan An employee who was placed on a “do not hire” list for stalking and harassing an employee at the company found himself hired by the tech giant after it gutted its talent and recruiting division, a lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges. Giants rehiring.
The lawsuit, filed in New York Supreme Court on behalf of Meta employee James Napoli, alleges the company violated New York City's human rights laws and was negligent in rehiring the employee. It also accuses the company of retaliation by allegedly excluding Napoli from major projects because he raised concerns that the man had been rehired.
“I had spoken to my employer about this multiple times…I was told that he would not be able to come into our offices, that he would not be hired again, and then, all of a sudden, this guy reached out to me.” (on Meta's internal messaging system),” Napoli, a marketing executive who works out of Meta's New York City office, told CNBC. “I trust my employer to keep me safe, right? Because stalkers and harassers are workplace dangers too… It's not just a danger to me, it's a danger being put back into the workplace.”
The lawsuit follows CEO Mark Zuckerberg's announcement in March 2023 that Meta would reduce the size of its recruiting team as part of a larger strategy to cut 21,000 jobs, eliminate mid-level managers and improve operating efficiencies part of.
While Wall Street has responded favorably to Meta's cost-cutting plans, layoffs in the company's customer service, trust and safety teams have made it harder for the social networking giant to respond to concerns from small businesses and influencers, as well as state and local elections. Officials previously reported on CNBC They use Facebook and Instagram.
In the wake of Meta's cost cuts and ensuing layoffs, Naples' attorneys said in the lawsuit that the company “reliant more on recruiting employees through outside contractors” and hired “fewer recruiters to screen applicants,” This negatively affects companies' ability to correctly capture red flags.
“Meta's employment practices were clearly so chaotic, reckless and ineffective that the company failed to track the most basic data point in its workplace – dangerous individuals who posed a serious risk to Meta's own employees,” the lawsuit filed by attorneys said. Leigh Goldberg and Peter Romer-Friedman said. “Yet Meta told the public and public officials that the company had the ability to protect the personal data of billions of children and adults on its platform.”
Meta has previously dealt with similar accusations that employees it employed engaged in tracking and related activities. For example, in 2018, the company stated Fired a security engineer He allegedly used internal data to track women online.
Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit filed Tuesday.
“Do Not Hire” List
The man accused of stalking Naples, identified in the indictment only by his initials “GF,” was a member of Meta's marketing team before he was fired in November 2022 as part of a larger restructuring of the company 13% of employees were laid off.
Napoli said that before the layoffs, GF and Napoli occasionally met at meetings but were nothing more than “work acquaintances.” After GF lost his job, he turned to Naples for support and invited him to a cup of coffee. During that meeting, the alleged stalker began making “disturbing” comments, the documents said.
“(He) told me that he heard voices and God spoke to him and that God had been talking to him about me since April of that year and he sent me a list of documents like he had for months. It was like a diary,” Naples recalled.
Napoli reported the incident to his manager and human resources “immediately” and said he was initially worried about GF's health. But Napoli said the situation escalated over the next year.
GF began sending up to 30 messages a day to Napoli, contacting his family and mentioning Napoli's partner, friends and even his dog Luigi in the messages.
“I am suffering mental torture from artificial intelligence technology, I don't know where it comes from, I feel like my love for you is being used for experiences that I don't agree with, and the soul tells me that your indictment states that GF is sending An email from Naples read: “I am the messenger of these two. ”
The lawsuit alleges that GF found Napoli's residence and “personally delivered a large amount of disturbing writing and drawings to the apartment,” forcing Napoli and his partner to move.
“I literally felt like I was drowning for a long time because there was nothing I could do to escape…it was really scary,” Naples said. “I'm worried about going out, I'm worried about my dog, I'm worried about my partner because they've all been mentioned by this person.”
The lawsuit states that Naples reported GF to police and considered obtaining a restraining order, but under New York state law, protective orders only apply to people who have an intimate or domestic relationship with the stalker.
In September 2023, Naples notified Meta that the stalking had increased in “frequency and severity,” and HR assured him that GF had been placed on the company's “do not hire” and “no-go” lists, which The following persons have been identified: They should not be allowed access to the company building.
But just four months later, the company rehired GF as a contractor because he apparently had slipped through the cracks during the hiring process, the lawsuit says. When GF's name appeared on Workplace, the company's internal messaging system, Napoli learned that the alleged stalker was back in Meta. Naples said he received word from GF that he had been rehired and would see him at meetings and events.
“After being reassured that I would be safe, it was really painful to have all of this come back,” Naples said. “I went to (human resources) immediately … and they let me know they were equally shocked. They don't have answers as to how it happened, but they let me know they would investigate.”
terminate again
Naples said that for the next month, he “lived in fear of interacting with GF at work,” until Meta informed him that GF had been fired. However, after GF lost his job for the second time, his “stalking and harassment of Mr. Naples significantly intensified and became more creative, sexually violent and obsessive,” the lawsuit states.
As Napoli grappled with the ongoing tracking, he also faced what the lawsuit calls retaliation from Meta for complaining to his manager and human resources about the decision to rehire GF
Naples was tapped to lead Meta's AI marketing efforts, but he said those plans were scrapped in response to his complaints and he found himself sidelined with reduced responsibilities.
Napoli seeks damages in its complaint but does not specify an amount. He also asked the court for a ruling barring GF from being rehired by Meta and prohibiting the company from “taking any further acts of discrimination or retaliation” against Napoli.
“I want to be able to do my job, and I want to be able to do my job without feeling like my shoe is coming off,” Napoli said. “I'm passionate about my job and I'm very proud of my job , that’s what I really want to do.”
Napoli said he decided to tell his story because he wanted Meta to institute reforms to prevent something like this from happening again.
“It seems to me that there were no procedures in place to prevent this from happening to … me or anyone else,” Napoli said. “Everyone deserves to have a safe workplace.”