Meta Removes Suit to N.J. District Court From Plaintiff Who Opted Out of MDL

Meta removed a pro se fraud complaint Thursday to U.S. District Court for New Jersey from the Superior Court of Essex County, New Jersey, brought by a plaintiff who opted out of the $725 million Facebook, Inc. Consumer Privacy User Litigation. Deciding the settlement was “inadequate,” plaintiff Aakash Dalal “timely opted out” of the settlement by certified and regular U.S. mail to the settlement administrator “requesting exclusion from the class action," said his June 19 complaint (docket 2:23-cv-13558).

Meta denies Dalal's factual allegations and denies the plaintiff is entitled to the relief requested, it said in the removal notice, which says Dalal's allegations and prayer for relief meet all requirements for jurisdiction under 28 U.S. Code section 1332. Dalal’s complaint seeks, among other relief, punitive damages of no less than $350,000, plus compensatory damages in an amount to be determined by a jury, treble damages in accordance with New Jersey statutes, nominal damages, and reasonable attorneys’ fees, expenses and costs.

Dalal was a member of the class in Facebook, Inc. Consumer Privacy User Litigation as a result of his use of Facebook, said the complaint. In December, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria for Northern California preliminarily approved a settlement in the MDL, which raised claims for invasion of privacy, negligence, gross negligence, deceit, breach of contract, breach of implied contract and violations of state and federal statutes. Dalal of Bridgeton, New Jersey, determined in May the settlement was inadequate.

A Facebook user beginning in September 2010, Dalal had “dozens of Facebook ‘friends’" and restricted his privacy settings to ensure his information and content, such as religious affiliation and political views, “would be limited only to his Facebook friends,” the complaint said. He posted content, including images and videos, and communicated with his friends through Facebook direct messages.

Information Dalal had intended to be private “has continued to this day to be unlawfully disseminated by Facebook to third parties,” including app developers, Meta’s business partners and “domestic and foreign government agencies,” alleges the complaint. Meta earns and continues to earn “substantial revenue by misusing” Dalal’s private content and information, it said.

Facebook “falsely informed” Dalal it had a policy of “sharply limiting the use of his sensitive information, while in reality, Facebook had no limits at all,” alleges the complaint. Dalal would not have used Facebook and posted content had he known Facebook’s statements “were false” and it would send his content to “tens of thousands of app developers and companies.”

Dalal asserts claims of invasion of privacy by public disclosure of private facts, invasion of privacy by intrusion upon seclusion, negligence, gross negligence, fraud, breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, and unjust enrichment.