Former Meta employee Sarah Wynn-Williams has written a memoir detailing alleged misconduct at the company. Macmillan Publishers and Flatiron Books, the publisher of the memoir, are also named as defendants.
The memoir, titled "The Careless Man: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism," talks about one of her former bosses, and details allegations of sexual harassment, including by current policy director Joel Kaplan, NBC News reported.
The arbitrator stated in the ruling that Wynn-Williams must cease making disparaging remarks about Meta and its employees and, within her control, cease further promotion of the book, cease further publication of the book, and cease further repetition of previous defamatory remarks. The ruling also stated that she must retract the defamatory comments that had been made.
It's unclear, though, whether the arbitrator actually has the power to halt publication of the book, which is still on sale at stores like Amazon and Barnes & Noble as of this writing, or whether Wynn-Williams can stop work on future editions. In its ruling, the arbitrator noted that attorneys representing Macmillian and Flatiron objected to its jurisdiction. Wynn-Williams appeared to sign an arbitration agreement when he left Meta in 2017.
Meta, Macmillan and Flatiron did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
"This ruling confirms that Sarah Wynn-Williams' false and defamatory book should never have been published," Meta spokesman Andy Stone said in a statement. "More than eight years after she was fired from the company, Williams deliberately concealed the existence of her new book project and circumvented industry-standard fact-checking procedures in order to rush it onto shelves after waiting eight years. This urgent legal action is necessary."