TikTok Employee Joins Fight Against Trump Ban on Social Network
TikTok Employee Joins Fight Against Trump Ban on Social Network
(Bloomberg) -- A TikTok employee joined the fight against the Trump administration’s efforts to ban the Chinese-owned social media network in the U.S., saying the government action would unconstitutionally deprive him of a job.
Patrick Ryan, a technical program manager who joined TikTok in March after nearly a decade at Google, filed his lawsuit Monday in federal court in San Francisco, hours after the company filed its own constitutional challenge in federal court in Los Angeles.
“I’ve done nothing wrong, I haven’t received any notice personally from the U.S. Government and don’t see why my paycheck should be taken from me,” Ryan said in an interview before his suit was filed. “From a legal perspective, I see a very clear due-process problem and as a U.S. Citizen I certainly have the right to avail myself of my constitutional rights.”
TikTok has some 1,500 U.S. employees and previously planned to hire as many as 10,000. At weekly virtual town halls, worried workers now ask top executives if their paychecks will keep coming if the app goes dark in the U.S.
Ryan, who is leading a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for his lawsuit, says he is not speaking on behalf of TikTok and is not connected to the company’s legal effort. Ryan and one of his lawyers, Mike Godwin, also say they have not accepted any corporate funding to bring this suit.
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