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Ashley Madison Sued by Ex-Employee Over Fake Profiles

samsung1

Ohio

CYBERSPACE—At first we refused to believe that AshleyMadison.com was rife with fake profiles, but then we realized that if anyone was going to cheat on the cheaters, it would be the site that promotes infidelity. Still, it took a lawsuit by a disgruntled ex-employee to pull back the curtain on this cruel charade. Actually, we'll just call her "the ex" from now on.

The ex is suing over alleged damage to her wrists brought about by all that typing of fake profiles. According to thestar.com, "Doriana Silva is seeking $20 million from Ashley Madison for what she calls the company's 'unjust enrichment' at her expense, plus another $1 million in punitive and general damages.

"In her statement of claim," the article adds, "Silva — a Brazilian immigrant living in Toronto — says she was hired to help launch a Portuguese-language version of the site and promised a starting salary of $34,000 plus benefits."

What came next led to the lawsuit. Silva alleges in her complaint that soon after starting the job, she was told to create one thousand "fake female profiles" to seed the Brazilian Ashley Madison site.

She also says she was only allowed three weeks in which to create the profiles, and that the intensity of the work led to injuries caused by “an enormous amount of keyboarding," which eventually caused "severe pain in her wrists and forearms."

She further alleges that her requests for a wrist rest were ignored by her employers, and that the resulting pain soon made it impossible for her to do her job. In fact, the complaint alleges Silva has been unable to work since 2011, and "remains seriously disabled in many if not all aspects of her life."

Interestingly, the article also states that the complaint was filed last year, but was delayed while Ashley Madison "petitioned the court to strike references to 'ethics' and 'unethical practices' from the statement of claim." Specifically, Silva claimed she was never told there was anything “unlawful or improper” about creating fake profiles, and alleges that she was in fact led to believe “that doing so was some sort of a normal business practice in the industry." She further states that she would not have accepted the job if she had known about the “ethical and legal issues arising in relation to online fraud.”

The petition to strike the terms was denied by the trial judge, whose ruling was upheld this month on appeal, according to thestar.com, which adds that Ashley Madison has yet to file a "statement of defense" in the case.

Another unusual aspect to this case is that Silva is seeking "a share of the money earned through the profiles she created" rather than compensation based on her injuries and suffering, which Silva says were exacerbated by the company's alleged refusal to "grant her workers' compensation or insurance despite an earlier agreement she would be covered."

In other Ashley Madison international news, Singapore has decided to block the site "amid a public outcry ahead of the company's planned launch of a portal for the city-state." The presiding authority said the site exhibits "flagrant disregard of our family values and public morality,” no doubt referring to all those fake profiles!


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