Dozens of Women are Suing Salesforce Over Sex Trafficking

50 unnamed women, and only referred to as Jane Does, are claiming that Salesforce helped Backpage in sex trafficking.

The women have identified themselves as victims of sex trafficking, rape and abuse that was facilitated through Backpage.

According to the lawsuit which was filed in Superior Court in San Francisco on Monday, Salesforce built customer tools for Backpage, upselling the now-defunct website on higher priced packages and additional services.

The lawsuit claims:

In public, including on Twitter, Salesforce boasted about fighting human trafficking using its data tools. But behind closed doors, Salesforce’s data tools were actually providing the backbone of Backpage’s exponential growth. Salesforce didn’t just provide Backpage with a customer-ready version of its data and marketing tools. Salesforce designed and implemented a heavily customized enterprise database tailored for Backpage’s operations, both locally and internationally. With Salesforce’s guidance, Backpage was able to use Salesforce’s tools to market to new “users” — that is, pimps, johns, and traffickers — on three continents.

A Salesforce spokesperson stated, “We are deeply committed to the ethical and humane use of our products and take these allegations seriously.” The company doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
“The evidence of Salesforce’s liability is overwhelming and the damages that have been caused to the victims and our communities as a result are monumental,” Annie McAdams, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, stated. “It’s simply not enough to say fighting human trafficking is important.
Internal policies and procedures have to reflect that commitment.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE: CRM) and have not been compensated for this article.