Mark Zuckerberg, Wife Priscilla Sued by Ex-Household Staff Over Allegations of Harassment by Former Security Aide

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife have been sued over alleged racist and homophobic abuse inflicted on two staffers by their former household security boss.

October 27, 2021

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have been sued by two ex-household staffers over allegations of racist and homophobic abuse by the family’s former head of security.

Business Insider reports the lawsuit was filed by Mia King, a Black woman who served as Zuckerberg and Chan’s former security operations assistant, and an unidentified John Doe, a gay and disabled man who worked as a household operations manager.

The two ex-household staffers claim that they were victims of racist and homophobic abuse from Liam Booth, the former head of security for the Zuckerbergs.

King alleges that Booth frequently made racist statements toward her, often referring to her as “ghetto,” while also saying she was only hired because she is a Black woman. Meanwhile, Doe says Booth made a number of homophobic comments directed at him, even slapping his groin at a sushi restaurant in 2018.

In another incident, King claims Booth blamed her for a car accident “while pulling back his eye lids and commenting that Asian women are notoriously bad drivers,” the suit states.

In an email to the New York Post, a spokesperson for Zuckerberg and Chan’s family office refuted the allegations: “In this case, almost all of the allegations in these complaints were first raised through counsel, after both employees had left the company, and in connection with significant monetary demands,” Ben LaBolt said.

LaBolt added, “Nevertheless, when their lawyers shared these concerns, both our HR Department and outside counsel conducted separate multi-week investigations into the allegations, including by conducting numerous interviews of their colleagues and reviewing other relevant documents and information. Following these thorough investigations, these allegations simply could not be substantiated. We firmly believe that these employees were treated fairly and respectfully and the family office is confident that it will defeat these claims.”