Scola v. Facebook Inc.: $52 Million Class-Action Settlement

Most & Associates, in collaboration with Burns Charest LLP and the Joseph Saveri Law Firm, Inc., obtained a class action settlement of $52 million with Facebook . The case involves a class of content moderators who worked for Facebook vendors by reviewing disturbing, graphic content for the social media giant.

According to the complaint, content moderators were required to view posts containing “videos, images and livestreamed broadcasts of child sexual abuse, rape, torture, bestiality, beheadings, suicide and murder,” as part of the content moderators’ duties. In addition to funding the settlement, Facebook has agreed to make changes to improve the safety of its U.S.-based content moderators by improving review tools and making available counseling by trained, licensed professionals .

Imani v. City of Baton Rouge: $1.17 Million Settlement During Civil Rights Trial

Most & Associates, in collaboration with attorney John Adcock, represented twelve peaceful protesters and two journalists arrested during the 2016 Alton Sterling protests in Baton Rouge. 

Many of them had followed police orders and were standing on private property when law enforcement told them “where you are standing isn’t good enough.” The protesters and journalists were arrested, abused, and imprisoned - in violation of their First Amendment rights.

Most & Associates took the case to trial, and shortly before closing arguments the City of Baton Rouge agreed to a historic settlement of $1.17 million.
Read the complaint here. 

Upton v. City of New Orleans: $1 Million Jury Verdict in Civil Rights Case

Most & Associates took a federal case to trial on behalf of a client who had been sexually assaulted by a New Orleans Police Department officer. The jury had to decide whether the City of New Orleans was liable for the officer’s actions, either because the City never should have hired him in the first place or because the Chief of Police chose not to tell anyone about an explicit warning he received of “potential sexual abuse of a minor by an officer.”

After three hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict for Most & Associates’ client on all claims, and awarded her $1 million in fees. Within minutes of the jury verdict, the judge awarded attorneys fees and costs to the plaintiff.

Rogers v. Smith: Victory on Appeal in First Amendment Case

Louisiana Overdetention Cases

In a series of civil rights cases, Most & Associates brought to light a fact that the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections had long-known but kept secret: that it was imprisoning more than 2,000 people per year past the end of their court-ordered sentences.

Since that discovery, Most & Associates has led the charge in holding the La. DPS&C accountable, filing two class action lawsuits, a range of individual lawsuits, and prompting a U.S. Department of Justice pattern-and-practice investigation. Read the U.S. DOJ’s summary here.

Suzanne-Juliette Mobley, et al. v. Facebook, Inc.

In 2016, Pro Publica broke the story that Facebook was allowing advertisers to exclude Black, Hispanic, and other “ethnic affinities” from seeing ads. Most & Associates filed a lawsuit to hold Facebook accountable for its violations of the Civil Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and California law. In March 2019, the case settled, achieving sweeping changes. According to the New York Times:

The changes to Facebook's advertising methods —which generate most of the company's enormous profits — are unprecedented. The social network says it will no longer allow housing, employment or credit ads that target people by age, gender or zip code. Facebook will also limit other targeting options so these ads don't exclude people on the basis of race, ethnicity and other legally protected categories in the U.S., including national origin and sexual orientation.

Read the complaint here. 

Defense Victory: Representation of International Non-Profit