Henrietta Lacks’ family is suing a second company for unjustly profiting from her cells. Lacks was a Black mother of five who died of cervical cancer in October 1951 at 31. Following a tumor biopsy, doctors saved a sample of her cancer cells without telling her and passed them on to a medical researcher at Johns Hopkins University. Although most cells die quickly in the lab, Lacks’ continued to multiply and didn’t age. These “immortal” cells were named HeLa (after her first and last name) and were sent to labs
Immigrant rights advocates and asylum seekers have filed a lawsuit against Customs and Border Protection (CBP), raising concerns about using the CBP One app. The case highlights that the government’s mandate to schedule appointments with immigration officials via the app exclusively adds further obstacles for asylum seekers coming to the States. CBP One App The CBP One app was launched in October 2020 to streamline the scheduling of immigration appointments for travel. However, in January of this year, President Joe Biden announced his intentions to expand the app’s use to include
Buffalo Massacre Families Sue Meta, Reddit, Discord, Alphabet, And Others For Role In Radicalization
The devastating 2022 Buffalo mass shooting has sparked a legal battle to hold social media companies responsible for their platforms’ role in radicalization. Two lawsuits, launched by the victims’ loved ones, are seeking accountability from tech giants such as Facebook, Reddit, and Alphabet, alleging that the algorithms and content on these platforms contributed to the racist attack that resulted in the deaths of ten Black people. How social media shaped the attack Payton Gendron, an 18-year-old white male, was fueled by white supremacist ideology as he carried out a murderous
Essence Festival of Culture is suing Spotify for using its branding without permission, according to The Guardian. The festival’s lawyers say they are taking a stand against the “intentional exploitation of Black culture.”. Essence Festival of Culture Essence Festival of Culture is held over the Fourth of July weekend in New Orleans with music performances, inspirational speakers, and proactive conversations about gender, race, culture, and art. It was started in 1994 as a one-time event to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Essence – a magazine aimed at African American women. Since
A Kenyan court has ruled that Meta is the primary employer of content moderators involved in a lawsuit against the social media giant and is prohibited from laying them off until the case is resolved. In March, the moderators, who worked for Meta’s content review partner, Sama, filed a lawsuit accusing Meta, Sama and a second subcontractor, Majorel, of union-busting operation masquerading as a mass redundancy. Meta sought to dismiss the case, arguing that it was outside the jurisdiction of Kenyan courts. However, the court rejected Meta’s claim and asserted its
Owen Diaz, a Black former worker at Tesla’s Fremont factory, has seen his payout in a racial bias lawsuit against Tesla reduced from $15 million to $3.2 million. Yesterday, after a week-long trial, a federal jury found that Tesla failed to prevent severe racial harassment at its flagship assembly plant in Fremont, California. Tesla has been ordered to pay Owen Diaz $175,000 in damages for emotional distress and $3 million in punitive damages. From $137M to $15M In the past year alone, Tesla has faced at least ten lawsuits from
Tech giant Meta is being sued by content moderators in Kenya, again. On Monday, 43 content moderators filed a lawsuit accusing Facebook’s parent company and two subcontractors, Sama and Majorel of ‘unlawful redundancy’ and discriminatory hiring practices. Meta had contracted Kenya-based firm Sama to moderate Facebook content in eastern and southern Africa. However, Sama closed its content moderation arm in January and announced it would be laying off 260 content moderators when its contract with Meta ends on March 31. The suit claims that redundancy notices were not issued and that Meta and Sama
Several Black celebrities are facing lawsuits and investigations for promoting FTX, the crypto exchange that collapsed earlier this month, costing US investors $11 billion in damages. A Texas regular is investigating Steph Curry, among others, over payments received to promote FTX, as well as any disclosures made to determine whether any unlawful practices took place. “We are taking a close look at them,” Texas State Securities Board’s Joe Rotunda said in an interview with Bloomberg News. Rotunda emphasized that the celebrities under investigation “aren’t the most immediate priority [but] they’re
In response to a racial bias case against electric vehicle-maker Tesla, a countersuit action has been put in place against the agency responsible. The case filed in state court in Alameda County claims the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) took “underground regulations” in its investigations of Tesla’s factory. The most popular vehicle maker said they were not given adequate notice of the claims or time to resolve the dispute, which violates state law. As we previously reported, the CRD sued Tesla earlier this year after workers claimed the organization racially
Timbaland and Swizz Beatz’s battle against short-form music video app Triller has finally come to an end. Earlier this year, the pair decided to sue Triller after alleging they refused to pay them $28 million after acquiring Verzuz, a rap-battle show they founded during the first peak of the pandemic. According to reports, the pair claimed the company had refused to pay the settlement agreement after acquiring their Verzuz platform. Despite Triller denying the claims, the platform has reached an “amicable agreement” with both partners to settle the matter. “Verzuz
