Meta ex-COO Sandberg sanctioned in investor lawsuit for deleting emails

By Tom Hals

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:)' erstwhile main operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, was sanctioned by a justice connected Tuesday for deleting emails related to litigation implicit Facebook's Cambridge Analytica privateness scandal, contempt being told to sphere the messages.

The judge, Vice Chancellor Travis Laster, of Delaware Chancery Court, said grounds showed Sandberg utilized a idiosyncratic relationship nether a pseudonym and erased messages that were apt applicable to the shareholder lawsuit.

The authorisation volition marque it harder for Sandberg to archer her broadside of the communicative and debar liability astatine the eight-day, non-jury proceedings scheduled for April. The justice besides ordered her to wage the expenses related to the sanctions question incurred by the shareholders, which see California's immense teachers' status strategy known arsenic CalSTRS.

"Because Sandberg selectively deleted items from her Gmail account, it is apt that the astir delicate and probative exchanges are gone," Laster wrote successful his sentiment published connected Tuesday.

Meta and an lawyer for Sandberg did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

Sandberg had argued she was forthcoming astir the idiosyncratic relationship and seldom utilized it for concern and erstwhile she did, others were copied connected the messages truthful the accusation was preserved.

Laster imposed a higher modular of "clear and convincing evidence," alternatively than "preponderance" of evidence, for Sandberg's affirmative defenses, which are her arguments and grounds for wherefore she should not beryllium held liable.

The lawsuit was brought successful 2018, erstwhile it emerged that Facebook allowed information from millions of users to beryllium accessed by Cambridge Analytica, a governmental consulting steadfast that worked for Donald Trump's palmy run for U.S. president successful 2016.

Shareholders sued the company's directors and officers for allegedly harming investors by continually violating a 2012 consent bid with the Federal Trade Commission to support users' data.

Shareholders besides allege the company's committee bargained to wage a larger good of $5 cardinal to the FTC successful 2019 truthful that laminitis Mark Zuckerberg would not person idiosyncratic accountability. Zuckerberg is expected to beryllium deposed for a 2nd clip earlier the commencement of the trial, according to tribunal records.

In 2023, Laster refused to disregard the lawsuit, which helium said was a "case involving alleged wrongdoing connected a genuinely colossal scale."

Shareholders besides asked Laster to authorisation Jeffrey Zients, who was erstwhile President Joe Biden's main of unit and who besides utilized and deleted idiosyncratic emails erstwhile helium was connected Meta's board. The justice said that Zients' messages were little pertinent due to the fact that helium joined the Meta committee successful 2018, aft the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and was not a institution officer.