Class Action Not Allowed in Suit Alleging Psychological Harm to TikTok Content Moderators
From yesterday’s Order Denying Motion for Class Certification, by Judge Vince Chhabria (N.D. Cal.) in Young v. ByteDance Inc.:
[1.] The primary relief sought by Young on behalf of the class is forward-looking: he wants the Court to order TikTok to institute various protective measures to mitigate the risk that content moderators will suffer psychological harm from reviewing disturbing videos and photos. But Young has no standing to seek such relief in federal court. He is no longer employed as a TikTok moderator and has no intention of returning to that work. He had already left his job by the time he sued TikTok, so the “capable of repetition” doctrine is not available to him. Furthermore, even if Young had quit after he filed suit, he has not submitted sufficient evidence to support his assertion that no monitor would remain in the job long enough to pursue a class action.
[2.] The secondary form of relief Young seeks is something he calls a “medical monitoring fund.” There is no mention of this proposed fund in the motion for class certification, much less an explanation of how it would work. On reply, Young makes general reference to it, but still doesn’t really explain it. At the hearing, Young’s counsel explained that TikTok should be ordered to put money in a fund that would be used to benefit the class in two ways: to monitor all class members for signs of emotional distress, and to provide people treatment (for example, therapy) in the event they need it.
Even after this explanation, the Court lacks the information necessary to assess whether such a fund would be feasible. For example, while Young uses the phrase “medical monitoring,” he seems to be asking for more than that: by saying it’s for treatment in addition to monitoring, he’s proposing to provide compensation for injuries that have been or will be suffered by class members. In the same breath, Young says that this is “not a personal injury case,” even though he is proposing that class members receive at least partial compensation for their personal injuries. Nor has Young explained how fund administrators would be able to determine whether any mental health cond
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