Meta to pay $1m to settle job ads discrimination suit

Meta credit: Shutterstock
Meta credit: Shutterstock

The class action revealed how the world's largest social network enabled Israeli employers to define exposure to employment advertising by age and gender.

Meta (formerly Facebook) will pay $1 million and implement a comprehensive reform of its advertising in Israel, in a precedent-setting settlement filed this week in the District Labor Court. The settlement reveals how the largest social network in the world allowed employers to discriminate against job seekers on grounds of age and gender.

The affair began in September 2021, when Ya’ala Lev, a sales and marketing worker aged 54, discovered that she was barred from many wanted ads on Facebook. The investigation she carried out revealed a sophisticated mechanism: Facebook’s campaign management system enabled employers to define in a precise way the criteria for candidates that would be exposed to job ads, including age range, gender, and place of residence.

Adv. Matan Gutman, who, together with Adv. Nir Friedman, filed the class action, said that the ads were completely invisible for whole groups of job seekers, chiefly those aged over 40.

The investigation found that major companies such as Israel Electric Corporation, the Bank of Israel, and several technology companies, used the system to focus their job ads on young people only. 888, for example, advertised management positions for people aged 25-39, and other companies restricted exposure of their ads to candidates aged under 45.

The severity of the findings led the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to join the proceeding. The Commission stated that the matter was "material to the question of equality in obtaining work, with broad social and public consequences."

Under the settlement, Meta will transfer $1 million to the class actions fund at the Ministry of Justice, and will also implement a series of material changes in its advertising system in Israel. The company will oblige all advertisers resident in Israel to reconfirm their compliance with policies that forbid the use of Meta products for discrimination. It will also publish guidelines in Hebrew for advertisers in Israel making clear that "the opportunities displayed in employment advertisements must address the entire public, including all population groups, regardless of particular personal characteristics." The document will contain detailed instructions on how to publish job ads in an egalitarian and non-discriminatory manner, stressing the legal obligation to allow equal access to jobs for all potential candidates.

"The settlement is an important development for the value of equality in the employment market in the modern age of social networks," Gutman and Friedman said. "The arrangements that have been formulated will greatly help in reducing discriminatory employment advertising, and in educating employers that publication of employment notices that are segmented for a specific target audience, such as ‘men under 35’, is illegal."

The Israeli case joins similar lawsuits brought against Meta in the US and Canada. The settlement will come into force after final approval by the court, and can be expected to affect job ads on all digital platforms in Israel.

Meta was represented in the proceedings by Adv. Dr. Gil Orion and Adv. Yael Riemer of FBC & Co.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 26, 2024.

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2024.

Meta credit: Shutterstock
Meta credit: Shutterstock
groundcover founders credit: Yossi Yarom Israeli observability co groundcover raises $35m

groundcover has developed a “Bring Your Own Cloud” (BYOC) observability solution, redefining the architecture of a modern observability platform.

Tel Aviv Stock Exchange credit: Shutterstock MagioreStock Foreign investment in TASE hits five-year high

Foreign investors have been flocking to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in recent weeks, the TASE research department tells "Globes."

Elbit Systems tank turret systems credit: Elbit Systems Elbit Systems wins $100m tank turret systems deal

The Israel defense electronics company will supply its advanced UT30 MK2 unmanned turret systems to General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) to be supplied to a NATO European country.

Tomer Weingarten Photo: PR Trump targets SentinelOne exec in act of revenge

The US administration has suspended the security clearance of the company's chef intelligence and public policy officer Chris Krebs and everyone associated with him.

Tel Aviv Stock Exchange share prices rising credit: Tali Bogdanovsky TASE opens sharply higher after Trump U-turn on tariffs

The pause is being interpreted as a climb down after US President Donald Trump admitted he had made the move to calm the markets.

Ashot Ashkelon credit: Ministry of Defense Up 250%, Ashot Ashkelon wins another Defense Ministry order

The Israeli defense company's share price has risen 250% in the past three years since FIMI Opportunity Funds acquired control.

Liad Agmon credit: Eyal Izhar Insight Partners Liad Agmon steps down as managing partner

Serial entrepreneur Agmon has served as a partner at Insight Partners Israel alongside Daniel Aronovitz who set up the Israel office.

Shekels credit: Shutterstock Vladerina32 Shekel slide resumes amid escalating tariff war

The Bank of Israel is not expected to intervene in the forex market despite the sharp depreciation of the shekel.

Nir Zuk credit: Inbal Marmari Palo Alto Networks mulls buying AI security co for $700m

Sources inform "Globes" that on Palo Alto's radar is Protect AI.

President Donald Trump hosts Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu credit: Reuters Kevin Mohatt Israeli officials confident on US tariff concessions

Senior Israeli figures believe that concessions could be tied to progress on strategic regional political issues that are important to President Trump.

Phoenix Investment House CEO Avner Hadad  credit: Tommy Harpaz "The market has priced in all the bad things"

Phoenix Investment House CEO Avner Hadad says US markets could continue to fall, but that we are close to interesting territory for patient investors.

Tel Aviv credit: Shutterstock Tel Aviv slips in World's Wealthiest Cities ranking

Tel Aviv's position as one of the world's wealthiest cities took a big knock over the past year as it slipped from 42nd to 48th in investment advisors Henley & Co.'s "World's Wealthiest Cities" Top 50 ranking.

Leviathan platform  credit: Albatross C'ttee seen recommending no cut in gas exports

The Dayan committee on the future of the gas sector estimates that Israel's natural gas reserves will run out in 2045.

Accountant General Yali Rothenberg credit: Rafi Kutz Israel's fiscal deficit continues to narrow

The deficit narrowed in the twelve months to the end of March 2025, for the sixth consecutive month, Ministry of Finance accountant general Yali Rothenberg reported today.

Arkia credit: Arkia Arkia cuts Tel Aviv - New York April fares

Arkia has cut fares at the last minute, a time when prices usually soar even higher, according to the pricing method used in the industry.

Bank of Israel Governor Prof. Amir Yaron credit: Dani Shem Tov Knesset Spokesperson BoI Governor: US tariffs could push up inflation in Israel

Prof. Amir Yaron tells "Globes" that there is a risk that the new tariffs will cause inflation to rise in the US, with a knock-on effect for Israel.

Twitter Facebook Linkedin RSS Newsletters גלובס Israel Business Conference 2018