Texas Supreme Court Rejects Salesforce Attempt to Avoid Sex Trafficking Trial, According to Annie McAdams PC and Co-Counsel
HOUSTON, Dec. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Salesforce.com, Inc.'s three-year campaign to avoid facing a trial against Texas sex trafficking victims who allege the company's technology, support and services were knowingly provided to notorious sex trafficker Backpage.com has failed in the Texas Supreme Court, according to the victims' lawyers at Annie McAdams PC and Sico Hoelscher Harris LLP.
The state supreme court ruled that the trafficking survivors could proceed back to state district court with their allegations that Salesforce violated Chapter 98 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code by knowingly benefitting from participating in a venture engaged in sex trafficking. In their underlying lawsuit, the trafficking survivors sued Salesforce, Backpage, and the hotels where they were victimized.
Salesforce is accused of helping Backpage facilitate and expand its online sex trafficking for nearly five years. Backpage.com was publicly identified by law enforcement officials, every U.S. governor, and the U.S. Senate as the nation's most notorious sex trafficking website all while Salesforce continued to help the sex trafficking enterprise grow. Salesforce's relationship with Backpage did not end until it was seized and shut down by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2018.
According to victims' court filings, "Through Salesforce's direct communications with Backpage representatives, Salesforce's examination of Backpage's operations, and public information about Backpage, Salesforce knew that Backpage was engaged in sex trafficking. Salesforce nonetheless chose to profit from working with Backpage and entered into multiple high value contracts with Backpage."
The ruling for trafficking victims follows a June 2021 win in the Texas Supreme Court against Facebook, Inc., which also is accused in state courts of enabling online sex trafficking.
The trafficking victims in the Salesforce and Facebook cases are represented by Annie McAdams of Annie McAdams PC, of Houston, and David E. Harris of Sico Hoelscher Harris LLP, of Corpus Christi, Texas.
David E. Harris, of Sico Hoelscher Harris LLP said, "These trafficking survivors have fought for three years for their day in court against Salesforce. Now, because of the Chapter 98 protections in state law and these Supreme Court rulings, trafficking survivors in Texas can now confidently fight back and hold accountable the businesses that knowingly benefitted from the exploitation."
Annie McAdams, of Annie McAdams PC said, "Texas rightly declared human trafficking as a public health crisis, but with this law it also put businesses like Salesforce and Facebook on notice that Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act does not provide them blanket immunity in Texas fto harm our children."
The Salesforce case is In Re Salesforce.com, Inc., Relator, No. 22-0232 in the Supreme Court of Texas. The original proceeding is Cause No. 2020-28545-A, 11th District Court, Harris County, Texas.
Media Contact: Erin Powers, Powers MediaWorks LLC, for Annie McAdams PC, [email protected], 281.703.6000.
SOURCE Annie McAdams, PC
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