Ex-Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg sanctioned for deleting Cambridge emails

• Published On: 22 January 2025 at 17:17

A Delaware judge has sanctioned Meta Platforms' former Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, for deleting emails related to the litigation over Facebook's role in the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal.

Despite being told to keep the messages, Sandberg was caught using a personal account under a pseudonym to delete potentially critical communications.

Vice Chancellor Travis Laster of Delaware Chancery Court issued the ruling in response to evidence that Sandberg intentionally deleted messages that could have been critical to the shareholder lawsuit. The court's decision is expected to make it more difficult for Sandberg to present her defence during an eight-day non-jury trial scheduled in April.

Judge Laster also ordered Sandberg to cover the shareholders' costs in pursuing the sanctions, which included expenses from California's massive teachers' retirement system, CalSTRS.

Laster believes that Sandberg's selective deletion of Gmail messages caused the loss of "the most sensitive and probative exchanges." While Sandberg claimed she was open about her personal account and rarely used it for business, the judge imposed a higher burden of proof on her defence.

The 2018 shareholder lawsuit accuses Facebook's leadership of violating a 2012 Federal Trade Commission order by mishandling user data, allowing the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to access millions of users' information.