Jessica Mah, Justin Caldbeck, Ex-Mahway Workers in Authorized Disputes

Los Angeles entrepreneur and investor Jessica Mah is embroiled in bitter authorized disputes with two former executives of her firm and with D International Ventures, a agency led by Justin Caldbeck, a distinguished Silicon Valley enterprise capitalist who admitted to sexually harassing feminine buyers in 2017.

In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Courtroom this week, Mah accused Caldbeck of sexually harassing her and of in search of to defame her over a dispute about an funding he made in a company entity she managed.

In the meantime, in three separate lawsuits, two ex-senior executives at Mah’s funding agency Mahway — former CFO William Mulholland and former president Walter Delph — in addition to Caldbeck’s agency DGV, made a big range of allegations in opposition to Mah.

These embrace claims from all three that she misappropriated firm funds, together with to pay for a brand new non-public jet and journeys to Burning Man; claims by Delph of inappropriate sexual conversations within the office and discriminatory feedback about older employees; and claims from Mulholland of a hid romantic relationship between Mah and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

Mah, who says she has been programming since center faculty, was featured on Forbes’ “30 beneath 30” record in 2012 and was on the entrance web page of Inc journal in 2015. She based inDinero, a fintech startup that created a monetary dashboard for companies, after which her VC agency known as Mahway, which she has known as a “enterprise builder.

Caldbeck, who additionally labored at Bain Capital Ventures and Lightspeed Ventures, resigned from the fund he based, Binary Capital, in 2017 after a bunch of girls shared accusations of sexual harassment. Caldbeck admitted to his inappropriate conduct towards feminine founders and buyers.

In a press release Friday, Mah mentioned she had spent months attempting to resolve the dispute with Caldbeck privately earlier than submitting go well with.

“I acknowledge the dangers and backlash which will observe, and I’ve made peace with the results,” she mentioned. “This isn’t a step I take calmly. I imagine in doing enterprise with transparency, accountability, and readability — and I’ll at all times arise for these values, no matter how uncomfortable it might be.”

In an emailed assertion, Caldbeck spokesperson Sallie Hofmeister denied the claims of sexual misconduct.

“Mr. Caldbeck by no means made sexual advances towards Ms. Mah,” she wrote.

In her grievance, Mah alleges that Caldbeck sexually harassed her in 2022. “After consuming a number of drinks throughout a enterprise assembly on the restaurant on the Pendry Resort in West Hollywood, California, Mr. Caldbeck touched the upper-most a part of Ms. Mah’s thigh and put his hand subsequent to her genitalia,” the grievance says. It goes on to allege that Caldbeck repeatedly requested Mah if she was sexually eager about him and mentioned his sexual relationships with different girls.

Mah alleges within the go well with that Caldbeck misled his personal buyers in regards to the nature of his funding in one in every of her entities, after which “screamed at her and demanded she instantly pay him 3 times his preliminary funding.” When she refused, the go well with says, he advised her that “I will destroy you” and defamed her to others.

Her grievance alleges extortion, sexual harassment, and defamation, amongst different claims.

All three circumstances in opposition to Mah, filed in Los Angeles Superior Courtroom on Wednesday and Thursday by San Francisco-based legislation agency Sawyer & Labar LLC, accuse her of improperly utilizing firm funds to pay for her private life. The claims variously embrace leasing a Lamborghini, trip journeys to Burning Man and Park Metropolis, overlaying hire for her house, paying for private cooks and landscaping providers, and paying for a private jet regardless of workers’ objections.

Hofmeister, additionally a spokesperson for Mulholland and Delph, declined to touch upon their lawsuits.

“Mah is extra eager about residing an ersatz glamorous life-style than investing,” the DGV grievance learn. “The results of Mah’s dereliction of responsibility was predictable for the Firm and its buyers: investments weren’t as fruitful, making no actual progress, whereas Mah seduced buyers with deceptive and sometimes contradictory representations in quarterly investor experiences.”

Delph’s grievance alleges that employees have been required to work from Mah’s house, and that her pals and sexual companions would go to through the workday and stroll round “in numerous levels of undress.” Mah would speak about sexual encounters together with her workers, amounting to sexual harassment, the go well with says. Delph additionally alleges that Mah known as him an “previous man” and “ridiculed” him due to his age.

Mulholland’s grievance alleges that an investor in Mahway complained that Mah had been “concealing her former sexual relationship with Eric Schmidt, the most important Mahway investor and former CEO of Google, with a purpose to make Mahway appear as if a professional funding alternative.” A spokesperson for Schmidt declined to touch upon the purported relationship.

DGV’s grievance claims that Mah “misled” the agency into falsely believing that Schmidt’s household workplace had invested in Mahway. Nonetheless, Schmidt’s spokesperson mentioned that is false, and that Schmidt was certainly an investor.

Delph claims to have been fired after elevating issues to Mah internally at a administration assembly, whereas Mulholland’s go well with says he felt compelled to resign as a result of Mah “was ordering him to interrupt the legislation by concealing and/or misrepresenting materials information whereas participating normally solicitation of buyers in an unregistered safety.”

The claims in Delph’s grievance embrace whistleblower retaliation, wrongful termination, age discrimination and sexual harassment. Mulholland claims constructive discharge and whistleblower retaliation, amongst different claims. And DGV’s claims embrace breach of fiduciary responsibility, breach of contract, civil theft, and sale of unregistered securities.

Further reporting by Jack Newsham.

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