[ad_1]
The CEO of artificial intelligence software firm Afiniti announced on Thursday that he was stepping down from the company, two days after a former employee testified before a congressional committee that the executive had been sexually assaulted and beaten.
The company’s board said that executive director Zia Chishti, who is the founder of the company, “immediately resigned from his position as chairman, CEO and director of Afiniti,” according to a statement on the company’s website.
The board of directors will make additional organizational announcements in the coming days.” Declaration said.
On Tuesday, former employee Tatiana Spottiswoode said: Testified before the House Judiciary Committee That Mr Chishti harassed her for months after she started working for the company in 2016, when she was about 23 years old.
She said she sent him an email describing a sexual fantasy in which he strangled her and once held her hip in front of other employees.
Then, Ms. Spottiswoode was sexually assaulted and beaten during a business trip to Brazil in 2017. She said that when she hired a lawyer and accused him of assaulting her, the lawyer filed an arbitration case against her.
“She knew that arbitration secrecy would protect her,” Ms Spottiswoode said.
Ms Spottiswoode told Afiniti that when she started, she signed a contract that included “an arbitration agreement with a strong confidentiality clause.”
On the same day as Ms Spottiswoode’s statement, a spokesperson for Afiniti said in a statement that the company had “investigated the allegations with an independent attorney and concluded that the arbitration decision it referred to was erroneous”.
“Zia Chishti strongly opposes all charges against her,” spokeswoman Natalie Cerny said at the time. Ms Cerny, reached on Friday, declined to comment on the recording.
Mr Chishti, 50, said on Friday that he denied “all allegations”.
“I believe the evidence doesn’t support them,” he said. “Just the opposite.”
Mr Chishti added that he “deeply supports women in the workplace”.
“Seeing them to do their best is one of my priorities,” he said. “As a result, these claims are particularly hurtful.”
Ms Spottiswoode’s testimony also led to former British prime minister David Cameron resigning as chairman of the company’s advisory board. according to the BBC.
Mr Cameron told the BBC he understood the allegations were controversial, but “did not agree with the company’s approach in responding to the matter”.
Miss Spottiswoode one of four women who testified before the committee, which thinks law to abolish mandatory arbitration for victims of sexual assault and harassment. According to legislators, mandatory arbitration usually requires an employee to enter a private lawsuit with their employer after filing a charge of workplace misconduct.
On Wednesday, the committee agreed 27 to 14 submitting the bill to Parliament for voting. There is bipartisan support in the bill.
[ad_2]
Source link