The co-founder of a San Francisco technology company, Christian Lanng, is facing accusations of compelling his former assistant to sign an inappropriate "slave contract," exposing her to years of distressing and unwanted sexual horror.
The lawsuit, filed on Thursday, claims that Lanng imposed the contract on his executive assistant shortly after hiring her at Tradeshift.
The individual, referred to as Jane Doe in court documents, alleges that Lanng subjected her to years of rape and abuse. The software company is also implicated in the lawsuit.
Lanng's torment reportedly included "inflicting physical pain through various means, urinating on her, and regularly using foreign objects to penetrate her," as detailed in the lawsuit initially reported by the Mercury News.
These disturbing accusations emerged after the executive was dismissed as CEO earlier this year due to "gross misconduct on multiple grounds." Management became aware of "serious allegations of sexual assault and harassment" against him, prompting his termination.
The person making the accusations further asserted that she was terminated in 2020 after raising concerns with human resources about the nine-page "slave contract," which she maintained she was compelled to sign, the New York Post reported.
According to an alleged copy of the contract submitted with the lawsuit, Doe had purportedly agreed to "always be sexually available for her master when he needs sex and never to refuse him sex even when not wearing the [day] collar."
"Whenever she sees her master in private for the first time, she is to kneel and ask if there is anything she can do for him," the purported contract added.
The document also said that Lanng was allowed "any punishment the master decides to inflict, whether earned or not" - although it did note that it was the "master's responsibility" to avoid killing the woman or causing permanent injury.
The contract stated that the slave must always take her punishments "without being angry, sullen or frustrated with her master" and she must "thank him after."
As per the lawsuit, the former assistant was also obligated to maintain a "diary" documenting her "subjugation and enslavement" by the accused. Additionally, she had reportedly consented to being physically punished "with a cane" if she failed to write submissive entries.
Lanng is alleged to have subjected the woman to severe beatings, causing her to bleed, and engaged in acts of violation with inanimate objects, according to the accuser.
The legal filing claims that the accuser was contractually bound to dress in a "proper, feminine way" and maintain a weight between 130 and 155 pounds. Moreover, she supposedly agreed to provide Lanng with weekly spreadsheets detailing her progress.
"The slave agrees to submit completely to the master in all ways. There are no boundaries of place, time, or situation in which the slave may willfully refuse to obey the master's directive without risking punishment," the contract read, according to the lawsuit.
"The slave also agrees that once entered into the Slavery Contract, their body belongs to their master to be used as seen fit within the guidelines defined herein. All of the slave's possessions likewise belong to the master, including all assets, finances, online accounts and material goods, to do with as they see fit."
The former assistant said she signed the contract because she "loved her job, was accomplishing important work in her new role and did not want to lose the opportunity to work a Tradeshift."
A representative from the Tradeshift, which was also named in the lawsuit, told The New York Post that it "denies the allegations in the claim insofar as they are made against the company," but declined to comment further while referring back to the statement it released in October announcing Lanng's dismissal.
Lanng vehemently denied the allegations in a statement to The Post, saying that the pair had a "consensual" sexual relationship.
