 "Sandberg left Facebook after 14 years and stepped down from its board of directors in 2024. Reuters/File Photo")
Former Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg is under fire over sexual harassment allegations.
Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former employee at the social media giant, has described her experiences in a new book and made serious accusations against Sandberg.
In her book, Wynn-Williams has described instances of misconduct within the company, including claims of sexual harassment.
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The book is titled ‘Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism.’
Notably, Wynn-Williams worked at the company for six years until 2017.
Who is Sarah Wynn-Williams? What explosive claims did she make in her book? Has Meta responded to them?
Let’s take a look:
Who is Sarah Wynn-Williams?
Wynn-Williams is a former director of global public policy at Facebook .
This makes her one of the highest-ranking former employees to criticise the company.
She joined Facebook in 2011 when the public policy team was still small, managing an expanding staff and overseeing government relations across entire continents, including Asia and South America, according to an NBC News report.
She worked closely with senior executives, reporting to corporate vice presidents and interacting directly with Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and then-Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg .
She was fired the same year she reported sexual harassment by her boss, Joel Kaplan , who was then vice president for global public policy. Kaplan has since been promoted to chief global affairs officer and now represents the company in Washington and other world capitals.
Meta acknowledged that Wynn-Williams made allegations against Kaplan, but stated that an internal investigation cleared him in 2017, NBC News reported.
Wynn-Williams claims her dismissal was an act of retaliation for speaking out, while Meta alleges she was fired due to “poor performance and toxic behaviour.
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The explosive claims against Sandberg
In her book, Wynn-Williams alleged that during a road trip across Europe, Sheryl Sandberg and her 26-year-old assistant took turns resting their heads on each other’s laps and stroking one another’s hair.
She further claimed that Sandberg instructed her to buy lingerie for both of them regardless of the cost. The final bill reached $13,000 (Rs 11.3 lakh), according to a review published by The New York Times on Monday.
She also recounted being asked to share “the only bed on the plane” with Sandberg during a private jet flight.
The book review alleged that the former Facebook COO, dressed in pyjamas, had appeared visibly irritated when she declined the request.
According to Wynn-Williams, Sandberg had repeatedly insisted that she share a bed on a flight from Davos, Switzerland, to California in January 2016.
At the time, Wynn-Williams was pregnant and found the request deeply uncomfortable. She refused, describing the situation as inappropriate and humiliating.
She alleged that Sandberg later resented her refusal, telling her at the end of the flight, “You should have got into bed.” She also claimed that she felt sidelined at work afterward, NBC News reported.
However, another employee who had been on the flight, speaking anonymously to the media outlet, said that colleagues had been concerned about Wynn-Williams’ well-being during her pregnancy and had encouraged her to rest.
Sandberg left Facebook after 14 years, with reports alleging she had felt “burned out” and had been exhausted from being a “punching bag for the company.” She stepped down from its board of directors in 2024.
What Wynn-Williams said about Joel Kaplan
She also wrote that Facebook’s top policy executive, Joel Kaplan, had engaged in behaviour that made her deeply uncomfortable.
Kaplan, who was Sandberg’s former boyfriend, allegedly pressed himself against Wynn-Williams at a work party and told her she looked “sultry,” The New York Post reported.
She also described an incident where Kaplan had asked her after childbirth, “Where are you bleeding from?”
Wynn-Williams wrote that she found Kaplan’s conduct inappropriate and believed that the 2017 investigation into her complaint had been unfairly redirected against her.
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‘Facebook Feminist Fight Club’
Nearly 200 female employees who had worked under then-Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg formed a group called the “Feminist Fight Club” to discuss their workplace experiences, Sarah wrote.
According to her, the group encouraged members to speak openly about “systemic issues” women faced, including sexual harassment by male leaders.
She wrote that the group was created after female employees noticed Sandberg’s silence regarding the Women’s March, a massive protest against Donald Trump and the patriarchy in 2017.
Despite being the highest-ranking woman at Meta, Sandberg neither attended any marches nor made public statements on the issue, the Washington Post reported at the time.
Wynn-Williams wrote that she felt reassured knowing she was not the only one surprised by Sandberg’s apparent disinterest in the Women’s March.
What Meta said about the explosive claims
Meta, the parent company of Facebook , dismissed the claims made in Wynn-Williams’ book, calling them “false accusations about our executives.”
Wynn-Williams left Facebook in 2017, before the company rebranded as Meta.
A Meta spokesperson told The New York Post that the book contained “a mix of out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company and false accusations about our executives.”
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The spokesperson added, “Eight years ago, Sarah Wynn-Williams was fired for poor performance and toxic behaviour, and an investigation at the time determined she made misleading and unfounded allegations of harassment.”
Meta also accused her of being influenced by “anti-Facebook activists,” alleging that her claims were part of a broader agenda.
Wynn-Williams, through her attorney, accused Meta of “trying to mislead the public” with its statements about her and the book.
Ahead of the book’s release, Meta filed an emergency request for a hearing before an arbitrator on Saturday, stating that Wynn-Williams had breached a nondisparagement agreement. The company sought “injunctive relief barring disparagement,” according to NBC News.