Sheryl Sandberg—Meta's ex-COO—penalized for erasing Cambridge Analytica case related emails
What's the story
Sheryl Sandberg, former Chief Operating Officer of Meta Platforms, has been fined by a judge for deleting emails relevant to a lawsuit related to Facebook's Cambridge Analytica data breach.
Sandberg deleted the communications despite being instructed to preserve them.
The move is related to a case filed by Meta shareholders against Sandberg and Jeff Zients, another former Meta board member.
Accusations
Allegations of using personal emails for official communication
The plaintiffs in the case have accused Sandberg and Zients of using their personal email accounts to discuss a 2018 shareholder lawsuit.
The earlier lawsuit accused Facebook's leadership of legal violations and failing their fiduciary duties by not protecting user privacy.
Delaware Chancery Court Vice Chancellor Travis Laster, found evidence that Sandberg used an alias for her personal account and deleted messages likely relevant to the shareholder lawsuit.
Trial impact
Sanction implications and Sandberg's defense
The sanction could further complicate Sandberg's chances of presenting her defense and avoiding liability in the eight-day, non-jury trial set for April.
Laster has also ordered her to pay the shareholders for the costs of the sanctions motion.
"Because Sandberg selectively deleted items from her Gmail account, it is likely that the most sensitive and probative exchanges are gone," Laster said in his opinion published on Tuesday.
Rebuttal
Sandberg's spokesperson refutes claims
A rep for Sandberg has denied the plaintiffs' claims, saying they "have no merit."
The spokesperson also clarified that "All work emails were preserved on Facebook's servers."
Sandberg has argued that she was open about the personal account and rarely used it for work. When she did, others were copied on the messages ensuring information preservation.
About the case
Shareholders sue Meta for alleged data protection violations
The case stems from the 2018 revelation that Facebook allowed user data access by Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm involved in the 2016 US presidential campaign.
Shareholders subsequently sued Meta's leadership, alleging they harmed investors by repeatedly breaching a 2012 consent order with FTC intended to safeguard user data privacy.
Plaintiffs allege that Meta executives violated this FTC order, which stipulated that the company would not collect or share Facebook users' personal data without their explicit consent.