Facebook To Pay $52M In Settlement With Content Moderators Who Suffered Mental Injuries

Facebook Inc. FB has agreed to settle a class action filed on behalf of content moderators who said their mental health suffered on the job, the law firms involved in the case announced Tuesday.

Settlement To Fund Mental Health Treatment

The social media company will pay $52 million as part of the settlement with more than 10,000 current and former content moderators who are employed by third-party vendors in California, Arizona, Texas, and Florida, the lawyers said.

The workers had said in the lawsuit filed in 2018 that they were responsible for monitoring and removing disturbing graphic content, including child sexual abuse, beheadings, terrorism, animal cruelty, but were not granted adequate protections against severe "psychological injuries."

Every member of the class-action will receive $1,000 in monetary relief if the settlement is approved by the court. Those who are diagnosed with specified conditions as a result of the job will receive additional payments to cover their medical treatment.

If funds are left after screening and treatment costs, the workers will be eligible for damage awards of up to $50,000, according to the lawyers.

Facebook Commits To Future Safety

Facebook has also committed to providing a safer work environment for the content moderators, including requiring the third-party vendors to provide "coaching sessions with licensed mental health counselors," and updating the review tools on its platform to make the moderators' work safer.

"We are grateful to the people who do this important work to make Facebook a safe environment for everyone," Facebook said in a statement, according to The Verge, which first reported the news. "We're committed to providing them additional support through this settlement and in the future."

The Verge had earlier published two articles back in February and June last year highlighting the poor working conditions of the content moderators employed by Facebook vendors.

Price Action

Facebook shares closed 1.44% lower at $210.10 on Tuesday. The shares dipped another 1.09% in the after-hours at $207.81.