Venture Capitalist Defeats Sex-Abuse Suit After Three-Year Fight
Venture Capitalist Defeats Sex-Abuse Suit After Three-Year Fight
(Bloomberg) -- The sex-abuse lawsuit that ended venture capitalist Michael Goguen’s 20-year career at Sequoia Capital was dismissed because his accuser was found to be flouting court orders in the three-year-old case.
A trial had been set for October over Amber Laurel Baptiste’s claims that Goguen had mistreated her for more than a decade and reneged on a $40 million settlement. Goguen countersued Baptiste for extortion.
A retired California state court judge ruled Wednesday that Baptiste’s repeated failures to provide evidence and to undergo mental and physical examinations were willful.
“Baptiste appears to believe that the information responsive to the discovery at issue is either not relevant, or with respect to the medical examinations, not permitted by law,” wrote Read Ambler, a retired judge acting as a referee in pretrial discovery. “While Baptiste is free to believe what she wants to believe, the orders are binding on Baptiste, and her failure to comply with the orders is unacceptable.”
A lawyer for Goguen said he “looks forward to complete vindication” as he pursues his counterclaims.
The suit “collapsed under the weight of its own falsehood yesterday, when a judge dismissed the case because of Baptiste’s repeated, egregious and willful misconduct,” attorney Diane Doolittle said in a statement.
Baptiste didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The case is Baptiste v. Goguen, CIV537691, Superior Court of California, San Mateo County (San Mateo).
To contact the reporter on this story: Peter Blumberg in San Francisco at pblumberg1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Peter Blumberg, Peter Jeffrey
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