Cape Town — Facebook parent company Meta has been dealt a blow during a legal battle in Kenya where a court found that the corporation has a case to answer over its allegedly unlawful dismissal of employees and blacklisting of content moderators, TechCrunch reports.
This comes after over 200 people challenged the corporation’s move to fire them in a case that also involved Meta’s review partners in sub-Saharan Africa, Sama and Majorel. The case was brought by 183 content moderators employed in Nairobi by Sama but Meta countered by claiming that it cannot be sued as the court had no jurisdiction over a company that isn’t based in Kenya. Judge Mathews Nduma Nderi of the labour relations court disagreed, however, saying in a ruling: “The Court finds that this Court has jurisdiction to determine the matter of alleged unlawful and unfair termination of employment.”
Meta faces two additional lawsuits in Kenya, according to AFP. Daniel Motaung, a former South African employee of Sama, claimed the company was reponsible for, among other things, poor working conditions and lack of mental health support. Meanwhile, a local NGO and two Ethiopian citizens alleged the corporation of failing to act against hate speech in Africa.
