Christian Lanng, the former CEO of a US-based tech firm called Tradeshift, has been accused of sexually abusing his former assistant and treating her as a sex slave for years.
The case came to light after the woman, referred to as Jane Doe in court documents, filed a lawsuit against Lanng alleging that he subjected her to years of rape and abuse after making her sign a "slave contract".
The lawsuit claims that the "slave contract" named him a "master" and the plaintiff a "slave". The woman was reportedly made to sign it months after she began working at Tradeshift. The contract allegedly mandated that she be "sexually available" at all times "for her master when he needs sex and to never refuse him sex".
"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. She was also supposed to keep her weight between 130 and 155 pounds.
The abuse involved the woman being "bound against her will and beaten to the point of bleeding, including through the penetration of her body with various inanimate objects, all without her consent".
The woman claimed she signed the contract because she feared losing her job. Meanwhile, Lanng has denied the accusations, claiming that the two were involved in a consensual sexual relationship.
Christian Lanng actually tried defending the slave contract by saying it wasn’t legally enforceable.
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) December 12, 2023
He started getting ratioed so he deleted the post.
Bet he wishes he could now delete the slave contract. pic.twitter.com/xY0T4Q7t5w
He said the relationship ended eight months after the woman joined the company. "The shocking and vile claims in the lawsuit are categorically false, and I reject allegations that I subjected someone to any form of abuse during my tenure as CEO or at any other time of my life," Lanng said in the statement.
"In 2014, I made the grave error of judgment to hire someone I was dating and with whom I was engaged in a consensual sexual relationship. While this did not constitute a violation of Tradeshift's human resources policies, it was irresponsible to employ someone with whom I was romantically involved. I regret the decision. It was a foolish mistake that I will not repeat," read the statement.
It also needs to be noted that Lanng was fired by Tradeshift earlier this year for what the company called "gross misconduct on multiple grounds" that included "allegations of sexual assault and harassment".
It describes Tradeshift as a "toxic, hostile work environment". It claims that the woman was left bedridden for two years as a result of the sexual abuse she endured for years.
The lawsuit also alleges that the plaintiff was also sexually abused by former Tradeshift board member Morten Lund and entrepreneur Morten Sondergaard. Both have dismissed the allegations, calling them "baseless," per a report in Business Insider.
