Meta Platforms is asking a judge in Seattle to nullify a Washington State Department of Labor & Industries order that has forced the Facebook parent company to shut down a key part of a facility where it develops and tests futuristic devices.
The dispute involves a cleanroom at Meta’s “Matrix” facility in Redmond, Wash., according to a petition filed Wednesday in King County Superior Court, asking the court to vacate a Dec. 18 order by L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
The facility is the headquarters of Meta Reality Labs, where the company develops technologies that work in conjunction with augmented and virtual reality, such as wristbands that can control devices with small muscle movements, as demonstrated by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for reporters visiting the facility in 2022.
Meta’s petition says the cleanroom is a critical component of the R&D facility:
“Much of the Matrix facility’s research and development is conducted in the ‘cleanroom,’ which is an enclosed, specially designed space engineered to filter pollutants such as dust, airborne microbes, and aerosol particles to provide the cleanest environment possible. Meta incorporates a number of engineering controls in the cleanroom that are consistent with industry best practices and are in full compliance with state and federal health and safety regulations.”
L&I’s order, attached to Meta’s court petition, required the company to stop “all hazardous substances work” inside the facility until the company can show that it has sufficiently assessed the potential risks to airborne chemicals and gases inside the cleanroom, and taken appropriate precautions to protect employees.
The shutdown order was based on a citation issued against Meta in November 2022 for nine alleged safety violations in the cleanroom and a nearby gas delivery room, according to Meta’s court petition.
In addition, the petition says, L&I informed Meta at a Dec. 18 conference that it would be issuing two additional citations, for alleged “failure to abate” the hazards cited in the original citation, “and for additional hazards [the Division of Occupational Safety and Health] claims to have found at the Matrix facility.”
Meta is appealing the November 2022 citation to the state Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals, with a hearing set for June 2024. The company has taken “multiple substantial interim actions” in the meantime to address the issues raised by the state, according to the petition.
“The health and safety of our employees remains our top priority,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to GeekWire. “We’re working closely with state officials to take all precautions necessary to ensure a safe working environment.”
The company argues in the court petition that the state’s Dec. 18 shutdown order violates its right to due process, and fails to prove the “extraordinary circumstances” required to justify such an order.
“By requiring several work practices in the Matrix facility’s cleanroom to cease, the Order imposes significant ongoing costs on Meta which Meta will not be able to recover,” even if it ultimately prevails in the case, the petition says.
The state “did not give Meta any prior notice that it was considering issuing an order of immediate restraint, did not attempt to obtain Meta’s agreement to voluntarily shut down any part of the Matrix facility prior to issuing the Order, and did not explain what Meta must do to avoid such a shut-down prior to issuing the Order,” the petition says, adding that it remains unclear what’s required to lift the order.
Update: The Department of Labor & Industries issued this statement: “Our mission is to keep Washington workers safe. When there’s a hazard on the job, the employer has a responsibility to take effective steps to fix it, so their workers can be assured of going home to their families at the end of the day.”
Here is the original November 2022 citation, and the latest citation in which L&I cites Meta for allegedly failing to correct the hazards.
Meta Platforms – WA Dept. of Labor & Industries by GeekWire on Scribd
Here is the full text of Meta’s court petition:
META PLATFORMS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, v. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIES OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON by GeekWire on Scribd
