A Kenyan judge had on Thursday adjudged that Facebook’s parent company, Meta, was not in neglect of court for defaulting in paying the laid off content moderators that a contractor dismissed.
The labour judge, Mathews Nduma Nderi had said Meta did not “deliberately and contemptuously” breach a court order mandating it to pay the wages of hundreds of Facebook content moderators.
Earlier in 2023, 184 moderators dragged Meta and two contractors to court after they said they lost their jobs with a company, Sama, for organising a union.
The plaintiffs claimed they were then ostracised from applying for the same roles at the second company, Majorel, after Facebook replaced contractors.
Discussions to settle the case out-of-court had died down in October.
The firms, Sama and Majorel had not immediately responded to requests for comment on Thursday.
Meta had earlier, responded to reports of a dismal working environment in Kenya by saying that it required partners to supply industry-leading conditions.
Sama had remarked that it had always followed Kenyan law and given mental health services to its employees. Majorel, on the other hand had revealed that it does not comment on unresolved or active litigation.
Meanwhile, a British tech rights group, Foxglove, is fully backing the plaintiffs, and if has announced that the group was eager to bring the case to trial.
