6 Women Accuse Tech VC Justin Caldbeck of Sexual Assault and Harassment

Post by dang » Fri, Jun 23, 2017, 10:37 PM UTC

anothercomment wrote: post #205

irpapakons wrote: post #193

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What makes you think that the women liked him, or that he thought they liked him? They were pitching to him, that's a business transaction. He himself said he leveraged a position of power in exchange for sexual gain, and the linked article mentions groping and harassment with unwanted sexual propositions. Now the question is, what motivates you to seek out a relatively far-fetched justification for this man's possib…

First, his initial statement sounds like that (like he is genuinely shocked that he is part of the problem after all). His updated statement might reflect his realization of the reality of what went down. He looks pretty attractive - maybe there were other cases were the women were also attracted to him. Maybe women also unconsciously flirted to make him more likely to give him money, and he misinterpreted. (No, wome…

Post by vkou » Fri, Jun 23, 2017, 10:39 PM UTC

anothercomment wrote: post #209

biocomputation wrote: post #206

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>> The accusations can be true, and at the same time it seems possible that the VC didn't take advantage of his "position of power", but genuinely believed the women liked him for his looks and personality, not because they needed his money. This type of behavior is about boundaries. Boundaries are about power. His behavior crossed what our culture generally says are the boundaries of a professional situation. That's…

People date in the workplace all the time, so I don't think your rules about "professional situations" are generally accepted. I also reject the notion of "position of power" just because he is a VC. Nobody is forced to take his money. You could just as well say the applying women are in a position of power because the VC desperately needs somebody to invest in. I guess a startup should avoid seeking investments wher…

Post by xyzzy_plugh » Fri, Jun 23, 2017, 10:46 PM UTC

Alex3917 wrote: post #210

munchbunny wrote: post #102

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The sad part to me is that this is just the part of the iceberg that is visible above the surface. I've heard stories from several female founders/VC's (not naming names or specific details to protect anonymity) who have experienced repeated unwelcome advances even after it was made clear they had a significant other. That's not as egregious as groping (one of the accusations in this article), but that's still sexual…

> that's still sexual harassment by the letter of the law and slimy as hell every other way. IANAL, but legally it's not sexual harassment because they don't work at the same company. Something is only sexual harassment in two cases: 1) a supervisor offers something to a subordinate in exchange for sexual favors 2) a company is found to have created a hostile work environment. In both cases it's the company that's li…

Post by rocqua » Fri, Jun 23, 2017, 10:51 PM UTC

vkou wrote: post #162

tptacek wrote: post #155

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Caldbeck appears to have contradicted the firm's claim, harming their own credibility.

The firm claims he didn't do anything illegal. He hasn't copped up to the assaults, and since they were not employees, the texts may not necessarily have been illegal. Not entirely contradictory.

Post by sillysaurus3 » Fri, Jun 23, 2017, 10:54 PM UTC

Balgair wrote: post #207

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #94

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Sorry, I didn't mean to cast doubts. All I meant was that we should reserve judgement. In this case, it sounds pretty clear-cut, but the point was about future cases that may not be so straightforward. I can only imagine how stressful a situation like this can be, so I certainly didn't mean to increase it. Best of luck.

Come on, you totally meant to cast doubt. Still, it takes some degree of huevos to stand up in a semi-anonymous forum and admit your mistake (instead of deleting your comment or other dumb stuff). Kudos for that at least.