BetterWorks CEO Kris Duggan is being sued by a former employee for sexual harassment, discrimination, assault and battery.
According to a statement given to TechCrunch, the Plaintiff Beatrice Kim intends “to prove that BetterWorks CEO Kris Duggan assaulted Plaintiff Bea Kim in a sexually suggestive manner, ignoring her protests and attempts to free herself from Duggan until a co-worker had to physically intervene.”
The statement from Kim’s lawyer Conor D. Mack of Arena Hoffman LLP also says that “BetterWorks fosters a hostile and discriminatory work environment for women by tacitly endorsing and actively covering up abusive misconduct by members of senior management.”
Court documents received by multiple media outlets, including Fortune, describe an alleged incident that took place at a company retreat. Kim was reclining on a bed when Duggan allegedly entered her cabin and according to the statement, “began pumping and pounding [Kim’s] legs up and down.” Kim demanded that Duggan stop, and a coworker eventually intervened.
Duggan gave a statement to TechCrunch saying, “We are not commenting on any pending litigation.”
BetterWorks is an enterprise software company based in Redwood City, California that services companies like GoPro, BMW, AOL, Beachbody and Shutterstock. They build software for employee feedback and performance management.
Sexual harassment claims have plagued a growing number of Silicon Valley companies of late, including Uber and UploadVR.