Ex-Facebook employee alleges harassment and retaliation in memoir
The book by Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former New Zealand diplomat, addresses Facebook’s impact on democracy during a crucial period in its history.
In a memoir set to be published Tuesday, a former Facebook employee lays out allegations of misconduct at the company, including claims of sexual harassment and what she says were incomplete statements to Congress about Facebook’s relationship with China.
Sarah Wynn-Williams says in the book and in an exclusive interview with NBC News that she faced retaliation from the company after she reported sexual harassment by her boss, Joel Kaplan, who at the time was a vice president for global public policy. Kaplan has since become chief global affairs officer, serving as the company’s public face in Washington and other world capitals.
Meta, which owns Facebook, said in a statement Sunday that the book includes “false accusations about our executives.” The company confirmed that Wynn-Williams accused Kaplan of sexual harassment, but it said an investigation cleared him in 2017.
Former Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan, Sarah Wynn-Williams and Elliot Schrage.Courtesy Sarah Wynn-WilliamsWynn-Williams was fired that year. She said she believes the decision was retaliation after she complained about Kaplan. Meta says she was fired for “poor performance and toxic behavior.” Elliot Schrage, who was one of Wynn-Williams’ supervisors, said in a statement that he fired her “based on her repeated failures” to address performance concerns such as “indecision, shifting focus, and failure to execute on hiring” on the policy leadership team.
Wynn-Williams is a former director of global public policy, making her one of the highest-ranking former Facebook employees to come forward as a critic of the company. Hired in 2011, when the company’s public policy team was small, she managed a growing staff and oversaw government relations for entire continents, including Asia and South America. She reported to corporate vice presidents and had direct contact with Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, then the chief operating officer.
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