Monday, 28 January 2013 11:47
Square boss quits to fight gay sexual harassment suit
Written by Nick Farrell
Claims he is being blackmailed
The chief operating officer for mobile payments company Square, has quit so that he can fight off a sexual harassment claim.
Keith Rabois said that his former boyfriend was demanding “millions of dollars" to stave off a potential lawsuit. Rabois is a well-known senior executive and active startup investor, and admits that it is not particularly sensible to bonk someone who works for you. In a lengthy Tumblr blog post, Rabois said his accuser would file a lawsuit alleging that their relationship was not consensual, and that Rabois did "horrible things," which Rabois did not spell out.
The lawyer told him that he had to write a cheque for several million dollars to make the case go away, or else his reputation, and livelihood will be threatened if Square and he did not pay up. Rabois, 43, flatly denied the allegations and pledged to defend himself. He said that he met his accuser through mutual friends. Several months after the meeting and after they had spent time together, Rabois said he recommended his friend to the company, which hired him. It is unclear whether the accuser still works at Square.
Square did not know of the relationship until the recent lawsuit threat. Officially the company is not saying anything about it.
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