
一名前雇员出版了关于科技巨头Meta的职场回忆录之后,该科技巨头正试图掌控一种关于公司的新负面叙事。
该公司(原名Facebook)正在对莎拉·温-威廉姆斯提起诉讼。温-威廉姆斯出版了一本揭密性的书,书中不仅披露了多位高管的轶事,还指控公司存在不当行为。Meta正试图在诉讼期间阻止温-威廉姆斯宣传此书。上周三,一名驻芝加哥的仲裁员做出了有利于Meta的裁决。Meta指控她违反了离职协议中的非贬损条款。
温-威廉姆斯曾在2011至2017年间供职于Meta,并晋升至全球公共政策总监职位,如今她被禁止讨论这本名为《轻率之辈:权力、贪婪与理想主义消亡的警世寓言》(Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism)的爆炸性回忆录。根据Meta公布的法律文件,她还被勒令停止以任何形式出版该书(在其可控范围内)。
灵感源自“盖茨比”
截至本文发稿,《轻率之辈》仍在多个网站销售,已有大量关于其内容的媒体报道见诸报端。这本回忆录在3月11日一经出版就获得《纽约时报》好评,称其“既辛辣幽默又令人震惊:以犀利笔触描绘了这家全球最具影响力公司之一的丑陋面目”,同时盛赞作者“卓绝的叙事技巧”。
这本回忆录的书名参考了F·斯科特·菲茨杰拉德的经典小说《了不起的盖茨比》(The Great Gatsby)中的虚构人物汤姆·布坎南和黛西·布坎南,回忆录的卷首语引用了书中的描述:“汤姆和黛西,他们是漫不经心的人——他们破坏了一切,伤害了他人,然后就退缩到自己的财富或者麻木不仁或者是什么让他们维系在一起的东西之中,让别人去收拾他们的烂摊子……”
温-威廉姆斯在书中详述了她在任职六年间目睹的诸多所谓道德失范行为。例如她声称,高管们对她关于乔尔·卡普兰性骚扰的投诉置若罔闻。乔尔·卡普兰现任全球事务官,是公司的知名领袖。书中还详细描述了前首席运营官雪莉·桑德伯格的所谓辱骂及怪异行为。
在3月11日星期二这本回忆录出版日前夕,多家媒体报道了书中所揭露的最骇人听闻的轶事。但次日傍晚,Meta成功说服紧急仲裁员尼古拉斯·高恩,使其相信针对温-威廉姆斯的诉讼具备法律依据。
胜诉后,Meta发言人安迪·斯通在Threads平台发布了仲裁令及公司声明,并表示:“该裁决确认莎拉·温-威廉姆斯的虚假诽谤书籍本不应被出版。威廉姆斯被解雇八年多后蓄意隐瞒出书计划,并且为了在八年后让书迅速上架而规避行业标准的事实核查流程,导致我们不得不采取紧急法律行动。” 在被请求就仲裁置评时,Meta向《财富》杂志重申了该声明。
出版方麦克米伦公司(Macmillan)驳斥了Meta的指控,并力挺该书。该公司在提供给《财富》杂志的一份声明中强调,这本回忆录“经过严格的编辑和审核流程”,并表示“绝对会继续支持并推广”该书。
虽然麦克米伦以及出版该书的Flatiron Books出版社被列为Meta的仲裁对象,但该出版方称不应卷入纠纷,因其并非温-威廉姆斯雇佣合同的缔约方。
麦克米伦在一份声明中表示(原文着重强调):“仲裁令对麦克米伦毫无影响,但我们对Meta利用离职协议中的非贬损条款压制作者言论的手段感到震惊。”
声明补充道:“需明确的是,仲裁令未提及书中所提出的指控。”
《财富》杂志未能立即联系到温-威廉姆斯置评。
近期指控的回响
Meta多年来面临多位前雇员的严重指控。
最著名的案例是Facebook公民诚信团队产品经理弗朗西斯·豪根向美国证券交易委员会(U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)和媒体泄露的数千份文件。她在参议院听证会上作证称,这些文件证明公司放大仇恨言论和错误信息,且明知其对青少年用户的危害却未采取保护措施。
豪根在2021年接受CBS News采访时表示:“我在Facebook反复目睹公共利益与公司利益的冲突,而公司总是选择维护自身利益,比如赚取更多利润。”
Meta当时否认了豪根的指控,扎克伯格发文称她的指控“毫无意义”。
温-威廉姆斯关于性别歧视和性骚扰的指控,也与近期Meta面临的多项指控相呼应。据今年在华盛顿法院提交的诉状显示,在Facebook供职15年的前营销总监凯莉·斯通莱克指控老东家对她提出的偏见投诉视而不见,并纵容压制女性发声的文化——当她们指出安全问题和不当行为时会遭遇禁言。Meta以诉讼进行中为由拒绝置评。
斯通莱克在接受《财富》杂志采访时表示,在她起诉之后,有多位女性联系她称感同身受。她还表示,在Meta,“当任何级别的女性向男性传递负面消息时,就无法在职场立足”。(财富中文网)
译者:刘进龙
审校:汪皓
一名前雇员出版了关于科技巨头Meta的职场回忆录之后,该科技巨头正试图掌控一种关于公司的新负面叙事。
该公司(原名Facebook)正在对莎拉·温-威廉姆斯提起诉讼。温-威廉姆斯出版了一本揭密性的书,书中不仅披露了多位高管的轶事,还指控公司存在不当行为。Meta正试图在诉讼期间阻止温-威廉姆斯宣传此书。上周三,一名驻芝加哥的仲裁员做出了有利于Meta的裁决。Meta指控她违反了离职协议中的非贬损条款。
温-威廉姆斯曾在2011至2017年间供职于Meta,并晋升至全球公共政策总监职位,如今她被禁止讨论这本名为《轻率之辈:权力、贪婪与理想主义消亡的警世寓言》(Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism)的爆炸性回忆录。根据Meta公布的法律文件,她还被勒令停止以任何形式出版该书(在其可控范围内)。
灵感源自“盖茨比”
截至本文发稿,《轻率之辈》仍在多个网站销售,已有大量关于其内容的媒体报道见诸报端。这本回忆录在3月11日一经出版就获得《纽约时报》好评,称其“既辛辣幽默又令人震惊:以犀利笔触描绘了这家全球最具影响力公司之一的丑陋面目”,同时盛赞作者“卓绝的叙事技巧”。
这本回忆录的书名参考了F·斯科特·菲茨杰拉德的经典小说《了不起的盖茨比》(The Great Gatsby)中的虚构人物汤姆·布坎南和黛西·布坎南,回忆录的卷首语引用了书中的描述:“汤姆和黛西,他们是漫不经心的人——他们破坏了一切,伤害了他人,然后就退缩到自己的财富或者麻木不仁或者是什么让他们维系在一起的东西之中,让别人去收拾他们的烂摊子……”
温-威廉姆斯在书中详述了她在任职六年间目睹的诸多所谓道德失范行为。例如她声称,高管们对她关于乔尔·卡普兰性骚扰的投诉置若罔闻。乔尔·卡普兰现任全球事务官,是公司的知名领袖。书中还详细描述了前首席运营官雪莉·桑德伯格的所谓辱骂及怪异行为。
在3月11日星期二这本回忆录出版日前夕,多家媒体报道了书中所揭露的最骇人听闻的轶事。但次日傍晚,Meta成功说服紧急仲裁员尼古拉斯·高恩,使其相信针对温-威廉姆斯的诉讼具备法律依据。
胜诉后,Meta发言人安迪·斯通在Threads平台发布了仲裁令及公司声明,并表示:“该裁决确认莎拉·温-威廉姆斯的虚假诽谤书籍本不应被出版。威廉姆斯被解雇八年多后蓄意隐瞒出书计划,并且为了在八年后让书迅速上架而规避行业标准的事实核查流程,导致我们不得不采取紧急法律行动。” 在被请求就仲裁置评时,Meta向《财富》杂志重申了该声明。
出版方麦克米伦公司(Macmillan)驳斥了Meta的指控,并力挺该书。该公司在提供给《财富》杂志的一份声明中强调,这本回忆录“经过严格的编辑和审核流程”,并表示“绝对会继续支持并推广”该书。
虽然麦克米伦以及出版该书的Flatiron Books出版社被列为Meta的仲裁对象,但该出版方称不应卷入纠纷,因其并非温-威廉姆斯雇佣合同的缔约方。
麦克米伦在一份声明中表示(原文着重强调):“仲裁令对麦克米伦毫无影响,但我们对Meta利用离职协议中的非贬损条款压制作者言论的手段感到震惊。”
声明补充道:“需明确的是,仲裁令未提及书中所提出的指控。”
《财富》杂志未能立即联系到温-威廉姆斯置评。
近期指控的回响
Meta多年来面临多位前雇员的严重指控。
最著名的案例是Facebook公民诚信团队产品经理弗朗西斯·豪根向美国证券交易委员会(U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)和媒体泄露的数千份文件。她在参议院听证会上作证称,这些文件证明公司放大仇恨言论和错误信息,且明知其对青少年用户的危害却未采取保护措施。
豪根在2021年接受CBS News采访时表示:“我在Facebook反复目睹公共利益与公司利益的冲突,而公司总是选择维护自身利益,比如赚取更多利润。”
Meta当时否认了豪根的指控,扎克伯格发文称她的指控“毫无意义”。
温-威廉姆斯关于性别歧视和性骚扰的指控,也与近期Meta面临的多项指控相呼应。据今年在华盛顿法院提交的诉状显示,在Facebook供职15年的前营销总监凯莉·斯通莱克指控老东家对她提出的偏见投诉视而不见,并纵容压制女性发声的文化——当她们指出安全问题和不当行为时会遭遇禁言。Meta以诉讼进行中为由拒绝置评。
斯通莱克在接受《财富》杂志采访时表示,在她起诉之后,有多位女性联系她称感同身受。她还表示,在Meta,“当任何级别的女性向男性传递负面消息时,就无法在职场立足”。(财富中文网)
译者:刘进龙
审校:汪皓
Tech giant Meta hopes to take control of a new damning narrative about the company after a former employee published a career memoir about the social media giant.
The company formerly known as Facebook is pursuing a legal case against Sarah Wynn-Williams, who has written a tell-all book that shares anecdotes about top executives and alleges corporate misconduct. On Wednesday, an arbitrator based in Chicago sided with Meta as it sought to block Wynn-Williams from promoting the book while it pursues a legal case against her. The company alleges she broke a non-disparagement clause in her severance contract.
Wynn-Williams, who worked at Meta from 2011 to 2017 and rose to the level of global director for public policy, is now barred from discussing her bombshell memoir, titled Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism. She has also been ordered to halt publication of the book in any format to the extent that is within her control, according to a legal filing posted by the company.
Inspired by Gatsby
As of this writing, Careless People is still listed for sale on several online sites, and numerous media reports about its contents are available. The memoir was published on March 11, immediately attracting a favorable review by the New York Times, which called the book “darkly funny and genuinely shocking: an ugly, detailed portrait of one of the most powerful companies in the world,” while applauding the author’s “storytelling chops.”
The book’s title is a reference to Tom and Daisy Buchanan, fictional characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby, who are featured in the memoir’s epigraph: “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”
Wynn-Williams recounts several alleged ethical breaches at the company during her six-year tenure. For example, she claims that CEO Mark Zuckerberg looked for a strategy that would allow the company to operate in China even if it meant allowing Beijing to censor content on the site, and that managers ignored her complaints about sexual harassment by Joel Kaplan, a high-profile leader and current chief global affairs officer. It also details alleged abusive and bizarre behavior by former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg.
Several media outlets covered the book’s most eyebrow-raising anecdotes leading up to the memoir’s publication date on Tuesday, March 11. By the end of the next day, however, Meta had succeeded in convincing emergency arbitrator Nicolas Gowen that it had a valid case against Wynn-Williams.
In the wake of that victory, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone posted the arbitrator’s order and a company statement on Threads: “This ruling affirms that Sarah Wynn Williams’ false and defamatory book should never have been published. This urgent legal action was made necessary by Williams, who more than eight years after being terminated by the company, deliberately concealed the existence of her book project and avoided the industry’s standard fact-checking process in order to rush it to shelves after waiting for eight years.” Asked to comment on the arbitration, Meta sent the same statement to Fortune.
Macmillan, the book’s publisher, is pushing back against those allegations and standing by the memoir. In a statement to Fortune, the company says the book “went through a thorough editing and vetting process. It also emphasized that it “will absolutely continue to support and promote” the book.
Macmillan and Flatiron Books, the imprint behind Careless People, were named in Meta’s arbitration request. But the publisher claimed that it should not have been pulled in the dispute since it was not party to Wynn-William’s employment contract.
“The arbitration order has no impact on Macmillan,” the company wrote in a statement (emphasis in the original). “However, we are appalled by Meta’s tactics to silence our author through the use of a non-disparagement clause in a severance agreement.”
“To be clear, the arbitrator’s order makes no reference to the claims within Careless People,” the statement also said.
Fortune was not able to immediately reach Wynn-Williams for comment.
Echos of recent complaints
Meta has faced many serious accusations over the years from ex-employees.
Most famously, Frances Haugan, who worked as a product manager on the Facebook civic integrity team, leaked thousands of documents to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the media. Haugan claimed in testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee that the files showed the company amplified hate speech and misinformation and that it was aware of the negative impact it had on young users, but did not take measures to protect them.
“The thing I saw at Facebook over and over again was there were conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook. And Facebook, over and over again, chose to optimize for its own interests, like making more money,” Haugen also told CBS News in 2021.
The company pushed back against Haugen’s claims at the time, with Zuckerberg asserting in a Facebook post they “don’t make sense.”
Wynn-Williams’ allegations of gender discrimination and sexual harassment also resemble recent allegations made against the company. In one case filed this year, Kelly Stonelake, a former Facebook marketing director who worked at the company for 15 years, accused her ex-employer of dismissing her claims of bias and allowing a culture of silencing women who raise red flags about safety and misconduct, according to a complaint she filed in a Washington court. Meta declined to comment on that case citing ongoing litigation.
In an interview with Fortune, Stonelake said she has since heard from several women who said her allegations resonated with them. Meta, she also said, was “an organization where you can’t sustain a career at any level as a woman when you’re bringing bad news to men.”