Dovetail CEO's LinkedIn post draws scrutiny amid messy legal fight
Benjamin Humphrey's move to comment on sexual harassment allegations has drawn criticism from sections of the startup ecosystem, but lawyers are divided.
Dovetail CEO Benjamin Humphrey's attempt to publicly address sexual harassment allegations against him on LinkedIn has drawn criticism from women in the startup ecosystem, while legal experts are split over his decision to question the courts and the media while litigation is active.
In a post visible only to his contacts late on Thursday, Humphrey characterised the Federal Court filing by in-house legal counsel Bethany Lo Russo as "extraordinary allegations about a consensual relationship" while criticising media access to court documents before a defence could be filed.
"For some reason in Australia, the media can access Court documents that contain explosive and highly damaging allegations before you have a chance to file a defence," he wrote, indicating he had "texts, photos, voice notes, videos, and more" to contest the claims. The post, which had comments disabled, signed-off with "Now let's get back to work."
The statement drew swift criticism from women in the startup ecosystem, who circulated screenshots of the contacts-only post privately. One prominent ecosystem leader told Capital Brief on condition of anonymity that the the sign-off was "indicative of how these types of issues are considered a 'distraction' by leaders."
