BY SAM ALFAN.
Meta has now applied to be struck out of a case filed by a South African man who has accused the Facebook of subjecting him to poor working conditions.
Meta Platform Inc and Meta Platforms Ireland ltd further says Kenyan courts do not have the jurisdiction to determine the case.
Daniel Motaung accuses Meta and outsourcing company Samasource Kenya EPZ ltd of subjecting him and his former workmates to unreasonable working conditions including irregular pay, inadequate mental health support and violation of their rights.
The South African said he worked in Kenya for six months before quitting but claims that he suffered serious psychological injuries arising from repeated exposure to extremely disturbing, graphic violent content coupled with toxic working environment.
Facebook, however, argues that the case should be dismissed or the court should first determine fundamental legal issues touching on the core of the petition and whether the same is competent, bad in law and unstainable as the provision of the Constitution do not apply to them.
“Unless the orders sought herein are granted, there is an imminent risk of the Court acting without jurisdiction and it is in the interest of justice therefore that the application herein is certified urgent and heard without delay in priority to the Petitioner’s application scheduled for hearing on June 2, 2022,” says Facebook.
The company claims that they are foreign corporations who are neither resident, domiciled nor trading in Kenya and accordingly court has no jurisdiction over them.
“In any event, the South African has not invoked the jurisdiction of the court by seeking and obtaining the leave of the court as by law required. Notwithstanding the above and without prejudice there is no basis on which court can assume jurisdiction in the circumstances of this case,” the global firm says.
Motaung claims that content moderation at Facebook has been found to pose a risk to workers’ mental health.
And because of their repeated exposure to gruesome content such as beheadings, torture, and rape, a significant number of Facebook moderators’ contract post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), he says in an affidavit.
He wants the court to compel Samasource Kenya EPZ ltd, which trades as Sama and Facebook owners to pay him and his former colleagues for violating their constitutional rights.
He also wants the companies to cater for the cost of lifelong treatment for each current and former Facebook content moderator engaged through the Sama for any mental health problems that they may have developed as a result of the exposure.
“An order that the 1st Respondent accounts for and pays back all the unlawful deductions made from its employees’ salaries and that all current and former employees be provided with their pay-slips from the date of employment to the date of termination of employment or to date,” states court documents.
He wants the high court to issue an order that the respondents to jointly and severally implement at Samasource Kenya EPZ ltd centre in Nairobi a psychological and mental health support system identical to that in Meta Platforms, Inc and Meta Platforms Ireland ltd.
He also wants Samasource Kenya EPZ ltd in consultation with him and all current Facebook Content Moderators engaged through the Samasource recruit a team of at least three independent human rights and psychological consultants to be drawn from a list of independent experts approved by the Court to conduct an internal audit on the company’s content moderation centre in Nairobi.
