Teleperformance SE

On August 4, 2022, Forbes published an article alleging that Teleperformance had subjected its workers to poor working conditions, using real, graphic images and videos of child sexual abuse to train its TikTok content moderators, while “conversations with former employees reveal[ed] the extent to which moderators were both under-trained and overworked.” On this news, Teleperformance’s stock price fell $7.75, or 4.6%, to close at $160.94 per ADR on August 5, 2022, thereby injuring investors.

Then, on November 9, 2022, Time reported that “Colombia’s Ministry of Labor has launched an investigation into TikTok subcontractor Teleperformance, relating to alleged union-busting, traumatic working conditions and low pay.” On this news, Teleperformance’s stock price fell $24.55, or 18.6%, to close at $107.77 per ADR on November 10, 2022.

Then, on March 22, 2023, four months after the Company “unanimously” decided to exit the “highly egregious” content moderation business, Teleperformance announced that it would be reentering the field. Market analysts observed that the move was an indication of the Company’s overall business and growth prospects. One HSBC Global Research analyst report stated that the “U-turn on content moderation raises concerns about communication, governance and broad fundamentals.”

On this news, Teleperformance’s stock price fell $6.87, or 5.7%, over three days to close at $112.82 per ADR on March 24, 2023, thereby injuring investors further.

The complaint filed in this class action alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors: (1) that Teleperformance’s growth in Core Services had been achieved, in part, by requiring its content moderators to engage in inappropriate, traumatic, abusive, and potentially criminal activities; (2) that certain Teleperformance social content moderators had been trained with materials which included illicit images of child sexual exploitation; (3) that contraband images had been included in Teleperformance Daily Required Reading reports for its content moderation staff; (4) that Teleperformance had failed to safeguard child sexual abuse material and had potentially violated strict rules governing the handling of such materials, including rules relating to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children; (5) that Teleperformance had failed to provide adequate training or emotional and psychological support to content moderators exposed to egregious materials, including those exposed to extreme graphic violence and sexual images; (6) that Teleperformance had imposed unreasonable time and performance targets that compounded the occupational trauma suffered by its content moderators; (7) that Teleperformance had failed to implement or maintain the working conditions represented to investors, including by subjecting the Company’s content moderation workers to widespread occupational trauma without psychological support, and with paltry pay, punitive salary deductions, extensive surveillance, and aggressive union-busting tactics; (8) that, as a result, Teleperformance was subject to a material, undisclosed risk of legal, regulatory, business, and reputational harm if the truth regarding the Company’s content moderation services, treatment of its content moderation workers, and handling of contraband materials was ever publicly revealed; and (9) as a result, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.