Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have been sued over alleged racist and homophobic abuse inflicted on two staffers by their former household security boss, which is said to have included a dig at Meghan Markle.
Mia King, a black LGBR woman who served as a security operations assistant, and a John Doe, a gay and disabled man who worked as a household operations manager, claimed they were subject to racist and homophobic abuse by the billionaire couple's former head of security Liam Booth, Business Insider reports.
In their twin lawsuit, filed in San Francisco County, King said Booth would often call her 'ghetto' and complain that Meghan Markle, who is bi-racial, 'polluted the royal blood line' following her marriage to Prince Harry.
Doe also claimed that Booth, a former Secret Service agent whose race has not been disclosed, allegedly made constant comments about his homosexuality and slapped his groin at a sushi restaurant in 2018.
Pictured, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan with their family
The couple run a home office operation through their California estate, pictured. Employees have alleged that a pattern of discriminatory behavior took place at the home office
Former head of security Liam Booth allegedly made a slew of racist remarks against black people, and directed such comments at Meghan Mark, wife of Prince Harry, pictured above
Other employees had previously witnessed Booth groping Doe's butt in Zuckerberg's Montana property that same year and imitating 'lewd sex acts' in front him, the lawsuit states. Zuckernberg and Chan's main property sits in the Bay Area, but they also own homes in Hawaii and Montana.
Booth, a former Secret Service agent who once served in President Barack Obama's personal protection detail, resigned from Zuckerberg's family office in 2019 following a probe into the complaints when Business Insider first reported them.
Zuckerberg and Chan have refuted these claims, and their personal spokesperson, Ben LaBolt, said in a statement that the company's internal investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing.
'As we previously stated when these claims were anonymously leaked to the media over two years ago, our family office follows a strict code of conduct that requires appropriate behavior from all members of our teams. It is our expectation that each of our employees adheres to this code of conduct,' LaBolt said.
'Any complaint made to our HR personnel is taken seriously and is investigated and addressed. We are proud of the team of professionals who work in the family office and are confident that these claims, which seek to unfairly disparage our colleagues, will fail.'
Booth has yet to make a statement regarding the allegations in the three years since they first surfaced.
Also named in the suit are Doe's boss Brian Mosteller, and Monica Moorhouse, an ex-human resources employee for the family office.
They could not immediately be reached by DailyMail.com late on Tuesday.
Booth allegedly poked fun at Chan, an Asian woman. The Zuckerberg and Chan, pictured in 2020, have denied that such behavior took place in their family office
Booth's alleged behaviors have been previously reported when they first came to light in 2019, with the former employees detailing the shocking behavior, according to Business Insider.
In one, a former senior manager of executive protection alleged that Booth told him Black Lives Matter movement was a 'terrorist organization,' and described a King as a 'ghetto b***h,' a 'hoodrat,' and a 'c**t.'
In another declaration, a female security worker said that Booth 'stated that he was "tired of all the Black Lives Matter bulls**t,"' and that he 'often used the word "n*****" to label African Americans.'
Additionally, she alleged that Booth disparaged Chan, who is Asian, calling her 'a bad driver while deliberately making his eyes narrower.'
Doe also alleges that his direct boss, Brian Mosteller, did not make accommodations for his disability, which includes epilepsy.
Doe claims that in 2019, he emailed Zuckerberg and Chan directly about the problem, but he never received a response.
Along with these allegations, the plaintiffs claim they were not given the legal amount of break or paid overtime hours they were due, in violation of A Fair Day's Pay Act.
Booth is just one of several of Zuckerberg's personal aides to have been accused of misconduct.
In 2017, a female household employee accused Zuckerberg's Hawaii ranch manager Shawn Smith of assault when he was drunk. The woman was taken to the hosptial for a head injury, but no charges were filed.
Smith has denied the allegations and continues to work under Zuckerberg.
And in 2018, another female worker claimed that she was sexually harassed by medical staffer Jaeson Rosa.
Post a Comment