Skip to main content

The attorney representing 2 staffers alleging misconduct by Mark Zuckerberg's security chief is demanding an independent investigation (FB)

lisa bloom lawyer

  • Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's personal security chief Liam Booth has been accused of sexual harassment and racism.
  • The attorney representing the two former staffers making the allegations is now calling for an independent investigation into the claims.
  • Zuckerberg's family office has said its own law firm, Munger, Tolles & Olson, is investigating.
  • High-profile civil rights attorney Lisa Bloom has is "[urging] the family to retain a truly neutral, independent investigator experienced in harassment and discrimination."
  • Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.

The attorney representing two former staffers for Mark Zuckerberg that accused the Facebook CEO's personal security chief of sexual harassment and making racist remarks is now calling for an indepdendent investigation into the allegations.

In a statement provided to Business Insider, high-profile civil rights lawyer Lisa Bloom, head of The Bloom Firm, said: "We urge the family to retain a truly neutral, independent investigator experienced in harassment and discrimination claims to make factual findings and recommendations on these urgent and important claims."

The allegations against Liam Booth, a former secret service agent now tasked with heading up protection of the billionaire family, include sexual battery, transphobia, and making racist remarks about Zuckerberg's Asian-American wife, Priscilla Chan. The claims were laid out by The Bloom Firm in legal documents demanding damages that were subsequently obtained by Business Insider. The two former staffers are asking for damages, and allege that nothing was done after they raised concerns internally at Zuckerberg's family office.

In response, Ben LaBolt, a spokesperson for Zuckerberg's family office, said that it "takes complaints of workplace misconduct very seriously and our human resources team promptly investigates all such matters." The law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson, which represents the family office LLCs, is currently conducting an investigation, he added, "to determine whether the claims have merit." Booth has been placed on adminstrative leave during this investigation.

This, however, is not enough for The Bloom Firm, which is now calling for an independent investigator that doesn't have ties ties to the family to conduct an investigation into the matter.

"As far as we know, no independent investigation is underway. Instead, a large defense law firm is defending against our clients' allegations. Attorneys are ethically bound to defend their clients," Bloom wrote.

Ben LaBolt did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on Bloom's request.

Zuckerberg's personal affairs are managed by a discreet network of LLCs and organisations; one handles his personal security (Facebook also provides some security for its CEO), while another employs household staffers and keeps his domestic affairs running. Booth is the head of security for this family office, as well as for the philanthropic Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Here is Lisa Bloom's statement in full:

"I am proud to represent the two individuals who have raised claims. As far as we know, no independent investigation is underway. Instead, a large defense law firm is defending against our clients' allegations. Attorneys are ethically bound to defend their clients. We urge the family to retain a truly neutral, independent investigator experienced in harassment and discrimination claims to make factual findings and recommendations on these urgent and important claims."

We have no further comment at this time."

Read Business Insider's original story on the allegations against Liam Booth, Mark Zuckerberg's private security chief »

Got a tip? Contact this reporter via encrypted messaging app Signal at +1 (650) 636-6268 using a non-work phone, email at rprice@businessinsider.com, Telegram or WeChat at robaeprice, or Twitter DM at @robaeprice. (PR pitches by email only, please.) You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 9 simple ways to protect your data that don't take much time, but could have huge security benefits




Get Articles and ICO whitepapers written by Williams Alfred Onen
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Monster List of Markets: 135 Places to Find Freelance Writing Jobs

Are you looking for freelance writing jobs? Here’s a hint. Content mills, bid sites, and job boards might seem like an easy place to go to find freelance writing jobs, but they’re usually a waste of time. Too much competition, flaky clients, low rates. That’s usually what you’ll find there. And it doesn’t have to be that way. You’re better off looking for freelance writing jobs by pitching magazines and websites that pay writers. It’s called pro-active marketing. And it’s a game changer if you’re serious about full-time freelancing. Instead of sitting around waiting for the Mysterious Force to drop some assignments in your lap, pitch a story idea to a magazine or website. Study the market. Come up with a story idea. Do a little research and mini-interview. Then write a great pitch letter and send it off. Rinse and repeat. Need a little help figuring out where to pitch your bright ideas? We’ve done some of the hard work for you. Check out this updated monster list of 135 markets (f
Post a Comment
Read more

A peek inside Sequoia Capital’s low-flying, wide-reaching scout program

Ten years ago, Sequoia Capital began quietly encouraging founders of its portfolio companies to consider which of their founder friends they might like to get behind financially. Sequoia would let them write checks to those companies, and it would share with them any later rewards. It was a brilliant idea. It allowed Sequoia to keep tabs on entrepreneurs — and nascent technologies — not yet in its universe. It cemented the firm’s ties to the founders who were already in its family. Not last, it grew Sequoia’s already considerable influence in Silicon Valley. Fast forward, and the ripple effects of the highly successful program have not only been wide-reaching, but they’ve quietly reshaped the industry in ways that only those closest to Sequoia have been able to fully appreciate — until now. To learn more on the tenth anniversary of Sequoia’s “scouts” initiative — which has since been widely copied by other venture firms — we reached out to Sequoia’s Mike Vernal, the partner who to
Post a Comment
Read more

As it readies a test for vaping additives, cannabis testing company Cannalysis raises $22 million

Cannalysis , a testing company for cannabis, has raised $22 million in a new round of financing as it prepares to bring a new test for vaping additives to the market. The test, which the company is preparing to unveil later this week, will test for the presence and amount of Vitamin E acetate, a chemical compound that may be linked to the aping related illness that has swept through the U.S. in the past month. Cannalysis chief executive Brian Lannon said the new product was developed in response to the current crisis in the cannabis industry over illnesses related to vaping cannabis products. “The big story that’s been going out over the last week isn’t the product that’s going out in cannabis, but an additive called Vitamin E acetate. We have  developed a test for that,” Lannon says. “ As part of the different compliance testing that’s required, it’s not mandated to test for any of these additives… What I’m anticipating based on the phone calls we’ve been getting is that a lot of o
Post a Comment
Read more