The CEO of online lending company Social Finance Inc., known as SoFi, has announced his resignation following a sexual harassment lawsuit. Mike Cagney is a cofounder of the company and served as CEO since the startup was established in 2011. He is the subject of several lawsuits, including a sexual harassment claim by executive assistant Laura Munoz and a wrongful termination claim by a Brandon Charles, a former employee who reported that he had witnessed female employees being harassed by Cagney and other managers.
Cagney is accused of fostering a work environment at SoFi where sexual harassment was acceptable and employees were expected to turn a blind eye to it.
Employees stepped forward
Cagney’s harassing conduct has been reported by more than 30 current and former employees. Some of the specific allegations against Cagney include:
- Flirtatious and sexually explicit text messages
- Holding hands and having intimate conversations with a female employee
- Boasting about his sexual conquests and the size of his genitalia
In a New York Times piece, former SoFi employee Yulia Zamora described the company as a “frat house” without rules.
The CFO of the company is also accused of misconduct, including discussing women’s breasts and offering female employees financial incentives for losing weight. And several supervisors at SoFi’s main office reportedly had sex with employees. More resignations have followed Cagney’s announcement, and additional lawsuits are expected.
SoFi joins other tech companies that have dealt with sexual harassment allegations against officers recently. Uber and some other large startups have seen turnover at the executive level amid sex scandals in 2017.
Sexual harassment in any form should never be tolerated in the workplace. Please contact our law firm if you are being sexually harassed at work or if your employer retaliated against you for reporting sexual harassment. We can help empower you to get justice whether privately or publicly.