Mark Zuckerberg's personal security chief is accused of sexual misconduct and making homophobic and racist comments - including some about the Facebook CEO's wife Priscilla Chan
- Mark Zuckerberg's head of personal security Liam Booth has been accused of sexual harassment and making racist and derogatory comments
- Booth is a former Secret Service agent who has worked with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative since 2017
- Accusations come from two former staffers written in a pair of letters sent to Zuckerberg's private estate by the Bloom Firm
- He's accused of making racist and derogatory comments about Zuckerberg's wife Priscilla Chan, including making a comment about her ethnicity and driving
- He allegedly once said that he 'didn’t trust black people' and 'white lives matter more than black lives'
- He's accused of sexually harassing a gay security staffer, telling him a sexually demeaning comment then later groping him at a restaurant
- Booth is accused of being transphobic, calling a transgender staffer 'it' instead of their preferred pronoun
- Booth has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation
Mark Zuckerberg's head of personal security has been accused of sexual harassment and making racist and derogatory comments about the Facebook CEO's wife.
The bombshell allegations against Liam Booth, who works for Zuckerberg's personal security and not Facebook, came to light on Thursday by two former staffers.
Booth, a former Secret Service agent who worked under Obama, is accused of sexually harassing a gay security staffer with a sexually demeaning comment then later allegedly groped and inappropriately touched the man at Palo Alto’s sushi restaurant Nobu last year, according to one security staffer.
He's also accused of saying shocking racist statements saying he 'didn't trust black people', 'white lives matter more than black lives' and making a derogatory comment about Zuckerberg's Asian American wife Priscilla Chan and her driving.
Mark Zuckerberg's head of personal security Liam Booth has been accused of sexual harassment and making racist and derogatory comments, including some dergatory comments about the Facebook CEO's wife Priscilla Chan (right)
The former security staffer who accuses Booth of sexual harassment says he also harassed her in the office. At times he had other staff inform her she had to change clothing because it was 'distracting'.
She said that Booth fired her for 'rolling her eyes in a meeting' and complaining about a negative write-up.
A second former employee who worked as a member of Zuckerberg's household staff and resigned this year says Booth made racist and derogatory comments about Priscilla Chan and made a remark about her ethnicity while referencing her ability to drive.
That employee also claimed Booth called a transgender staff member 'it' instead of their preferred pronoun and used demeaning language when referring to the individual.
He also made other racist and sexist comments and said multiple times he 'didn’t trust black people' and 'white lives matter more than black lives'.
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Booth is a former Secret Service agent who has worked with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative since 2017. The accusations against him come from two former staffers in a pair of letters sent to Zuckerberg's private estate by the Bloom Firm
The accusations are outlined in a pair of letters sent to Zuckerberg's private estate by the Bloom Firm.
The letters were obtained and viewed by Business Insider and cite 'pervasive discriminatory conduct', 'horrific levels of sexual harassment and battery' and a hostile workplace environment where employees confronted racist, sexist, homophobic and transphobic comments.
The two former staffers claim that they raised their complaints multiple times including to Brian Mosteller, the managing director of Zuckerberg’s private office, but were ignored.
The two former staffers are requesting compensation for lost wages and additional damages related to emotional distress.
In the letters, neither indicate that Zuckerberg was aware of the accusations against Booth.
One of those staffers resigned after being placed on medical leave in February and the other was fired by Booth two days prior for rolling her eyes in a meeting.
Booth has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation of unspecified misconduct allegations
Booth has worked with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative since 2017, according to his Linkedin. The education-focused organization claims to foster diversity and equity and inclusion.
A spokesman from the family office of Zuckerberg and Chan said Booth has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation of unspecified misconduct allegations.
'The family office takes complaints of workplace misconduct very seriously and our human resources team promptly investigates all such matters,' Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for Zuckerberg’s various privately employed entities, told Business Insider in a statement.
'The allegations against Liam Booth were brought to the office’s attention for the first time by The Bloom Firm after both former employees had left employment by the family office and engaged legal counsel. As soon as The Bloom Firm presented these allegations, the family office engaged Munger, Tolles & Olson, an outside law firm, to conduct an investigation of all allegations made by The Bloom Firm to determine whether the claims have merit. The investigation is ongoing. Mr. Booth is on administrative leave pending the completion of this investigation.'
Iconiq Capital, the firm that manages Zuckerberg's affairs that includes security, has not commented on the allegations.
Facebook spent $20 million on security costs for Zuckerberg and his family at his residences and while traveling in 2018, according to a regulatory filing.
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