Gender/Age Bias in Insurance Ads Litigation (Liapes v. Facebook, Inc.)
In 2020, Samantha Liapes filed a class action lawsuit in California Superior Court against Facebook alleging that Facebook routinely places insurance ads on its social media platform in which women and older people are completely excluded from receiving those ads. The complaint also alleges that Facebook’s ad delivery algorithm—that decides which users will receive each ad among the people who are eligible to receive the ad—disproportionately steers insurance ads on Facebook away from women and older people because of their gender and age.
The lawsuit charges Facebook with violating California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, the state’s public accommodations law that prohibits all public businesses—including websites—from discriminating based on race, sex, age, and other protected traits. The lawsuit seeks a declaration that Facebook’s sex and age discrimination violates state law, an injunction to prevent Facebook from continuing its discrimination, and damages for Facebook users in California who have been denied equal treatment.
The lawsuit has drawn support from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which argued in an amicus brief that Facebook’s legal defense of its discrimination resembles arguments made by the party that defended racial segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson, and Upturn, which filed an amicus brief arguing that Facebook does not have Section 230 immunity for discriminating against its users based on gender and age.
The plaintiffs and putative class members are represented by PRF Law, Handley Farah & Anderson PLLC, Gupta Wessler PLLC, Outten & Golden LLP, and Aqua Terra Aeris Law Group.
The case is known as Liapes v. Facebook, Inc., No. 20 Civ. 01712 (Cal. Super. Ct.), and is currently pending in the California Court of Appeal.
Media
Pema Levy, Should Facebook Be Held Liable if Its Advertising Algorithm Discriminates?, Mother Jones (June 9, 2021).
