Zoom. Photo: Shutterstock.com

One of the oldest churches in San Francisco is suing Zoom Video Communications Inc. after a hacker infiltrated its virtual bible study and subjected participants to pornography.

The lawsuit, brought by Bottini & Bottini and Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy on behalf of Saint Paulus Lutheran Church, is part of a growing number of legal actions against Zoom, which has gained more than 2.2 million new active users this year. The company's privacy and security practices have come under heightened scrutiny as the platform has emerged as a crucial tool for remote communication during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saint Paulus Lutheran Church alleges that Zoom's "utter failure in providing security" made it possible for the bible group to be "Zoombombed" with pornography, including videos depicting abuse of children and babies, according to the class action complaint filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

"In Saint Paulus's long history, it survived the Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906, the social and cultural turmoil of the 1960s–70s, and a 1995 fire that destroyed its 103-year-old cathedral building. Never did Saint Paulus imagine falling prey to Zoom's deceptive business practices and sex-offenders' depraved hacking during this unprecedented COVID19 pandemic," wrote the church's lawyers.

Zoom did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication. 

The church is suing the video conferencing platform for negligence and breach of implied contract, as well as violations of state laws including the California Consumer Privacy Act, Consumers Legal Remedies Act, and Unfair Competition Law.

The complaint asserts that on May 6, 42 minutes into an otherwise uneventful bible class, a "known serial offender" began exposing the group to footage of "adults performing sexual acts with each other and on infants and on young children." The session was password protected, according to the lawsuit, meaning it was not open to the general public.

Zoom's trust and safety department responded to the church's incident report by blocking the intruder from joining future meetings using the same Zoom software but refused to take further action, according to the church's lawyers. 

"It is baffling, to say the least, how Zoom failed to protect Saint Paulus's bible-study class from a 'serial offender' who has been 'reported multiple times to the authorities,'" they wrote. 

The church also reached out to Lynn Haaland, Zoom's deputy general counsel and chief compliance and ethics officer, as well as Zoom's Chief Information Security Officer Richard Farley, and Zoom CEO Eric Yuan. Haaland and Farley did not offer any additional security measures, and Yuan did not respond to the church's emails, according to the complaint. 

Zoom has drawn criticism after schools and other organizations flocking to the platform have been targeted by bad actors. In March, Wexler Wallace and Tycko & Zavareei filed the first of several class action complaints against Zoom in the U.S District Court for the Northern District of California. Following a probe led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, last week Zoom agreed to tighten its security measures. The company also came under fire recently after a report from The Intercept found that the company's past claims of end-to-end encryption were unfounded. 

"In our current situation, we rely on platforms like Zoom to socialize, work and, as here, pray together remotely," said Mark Molumphy of Cotchett Pitre in Burlingame. "I can't imagine a more horrific violation of privacy than that experienced by Saint Paulus and its bible study class."

Bottini & Bottini's  Frank Bottini and Albert Chang said in an email that Zoom's inadequate security allowed a known offender to Zoombomb the bible-study class. "This violation of the church's sanctity was a direct result of Zoom prioritizing profit over user security. Saint Paulus looks forward to proving its case in court on behalf of all victims of Zoom's deceptive business practices and holding Zoom accountable for its misconduct," they said.

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