Social media giant Facebook has agreed to a $52million court settlement to compensate its content reviewers, after a class-action lawsuit alleged that the employees suffered psychological damages while filtering harmful content uploaded on the site.
According to an AFP report, the preliminary settlement was reached in a California court. As per the settlement, the U.S. moderators who were part of the class action lawsuit will get $1,000 each. Those who have been diagnosed with conditions related to their work will be able to get medical treatment and damages of up to $50,000.
The lawsuit was filed in 2018, alleging that moderators – outsourced, contract workers were not adequately protected. The reviewers were employed to monitor harmful content such as suicide, rape, child sexual abuse, terrorism, beheading and murder videos and posts uploaded on Facebook.
While doing their job, the workers developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among other mental health issues. The lawsuit sought damages for mental health screening and treatment and demanded improvement in work conditions.
“We are so pleased that Facebook worked with us to create an unprecedented program to help people performing work that was unimaginable even a few years ago,” plaintiff attorney Steve Williams of the Joseph Saveri Law Firm said in a statement.
“The harm that can be suffered from this work is real and severe. This settlement will provide meaningful relief, and I am so proud to have been part of it.”
In a statement, Facebook said it is “grateful to the people who do this important work to make Facebook a safe environment for everyone. We’re committed to providing them additional support through this settlement and in the future.”
However, the current settlement is only related to the US, the spokesperson added.
HrNxt.com Newsdesk has researchers and writers with an excellent domain knowledge about the talent ecosystem, and the business environment. The team keeps a tab on the latest happenings in the ecosystem to bring most relevant news and insights for our readers. You can connect with our newsdesk at newsdesk@hrnxt.com.