A former NFL star has accused the CEO of a New York-based metaverse firm of sexually harassing him and one other Black worker, claiming she used racial slurs, subjected him to weird come-ons and made lewd references to his intercourse life, two recently-filed lawsuits declare.
Teyo Johnson – a former tight finish for the Oakland Raiders – says Everyrealm CEO Janine Yorio created a poisonous work setting, together with one comment the place she threatened to “trade” Johnson if he didn’t carry out her requests, the New York Post experiences.
Lawsuit Filed By Ex-NFL Star And Former Everyrealm Employee Alleges Racism, Sexual Harassment
The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal courtroom, named Yorio and Everyrealm as defendants, the latter of which boasts backers together with the Silicon Valley enterprise agency Andreessen Horowitz, which has movie star endorsers starting from Paris Hilton, Will Smith and The Weeknd and extra.
Johnson additionally alleges that he was pressured into “sexually harassing games” whereby coworkers and shoppers have been inspired to sleep with each other.
In March, he claims Yorio informed him a couple of “sex-related game that she encouraged employees to play” whereas they have been on a enterprise journey to the SXSW (South By Southwest) pageant in Texas.
The swimsuit goes on to state that “KYP,” an acronym for “know your personnel,” or “KYC” — “know your client” — have been “euphemisms for having sex or hooking up with co-workers and business partners.”
White Female CEO Allegedly Urged Johnson To Sleep With Co-Workers, Called Him A “Stupid Black Person”
The feminine CEO, who’s white, informed Johnson that “the way to pay the game” was to “get laid by a co-worker on a business trip,” based on the lawsuit.
Johnson, whose job required managing movie star accounts, says Yorio reportedly requested him if “he would be doing any KYP,” a remark which brought on him to be “taken aback” by the suggestion, earlier than “politely informed her that he was ‘already really close with someone’.”
That similar evening, the previous NFL star claims Yorio was “testing the waters” with him upon getting into his resort room and “insinuating in no uncertain terms that she believed he would” cheat on his girlfriend “to participate in the company’s KYP game.”
Johnson additionally alleged that Yorio made offensive statements about his girlfriend’s menstrual cycle and reportedly known as him a “stupid Black person” and “the whitest Black person.”
Yorio is claimed to have used different slurs directed at Johnson, together with “d***,” “big swinging d***,” and “f***ing d***,” the lawsuit alleges.
When reached by The Post for remark, a spokesperson for Everyrealm known as Johnsons claims “lies,” and tried to characterize him as an incompetent and lazy worker.
When two web3 divas cross paths. @ParisHilton pic.twitter.com/Ea2hoJQNpu
— janineyorio (@janineyorio) March 16, 2022
“As we have stated in our court filings, this employee worked at the company for only three months and was terminated for poor performance, expense account abuse, and falling asleep on the job,” the spokesperson mentioned in an announcement.
Everyrealm Denies Accusations Despite Another Similar Lawsuit Filed By A Second Former Black Employee
In their very own authorized submitting, Everyrealm additionally alleged that Johnson “openly and routinely disparaged the mother of his child and demanded that Everyrealm pay a portion of his wages in cash to avoid garnishment for child support payments.”
The firm added that it refused Johnson’s alleged demand to be paid in money.
“Johnson made various inappropriate comments in the workplace regarding other women in his life, hazed a junior female employee by disparaging her as ‘rookie’ and refusing to meet with her, and referred to [Everyrealm co-founder Julia] Schwartz as ‘that b****’ and Mrs. Yorio as ‘that crazy b****’,” the corporate alleged in its submitting.
However, Yorio faces related accusations from one other former Black worker in a lawsuit filed final month.
Introducing our keynote speaker Janine Yorio(@janineyorio) who will likely be at #KBW2022 to handle on a gateway to the Metaverse.
Janine Yorio is CEO of EVERYREALM(@everyrealm), one of the energetic traders and builders of the metaverse actual property ecosystem. pic.twitter.com/BitWesburt
— Korea Blockchain Week (@kbwofficial) July 4, 2022
Gatsby Frimpong, who has beforehand labored as a product supervisor at Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Cisco Systems, claims he was paid far much less at Everyrealm than a white engineering director was supplied for practically equivalent work,.
Frimpong added that Yorio refused to think about him for a promotion after he allegedly rejected her sexual advances, The Post experiences.
Company Calls Lawsuits “Extortionate” While Reportedly Filing Its Own Suits Against Plaintiffs
An Everyrealm spokesperson as soon as once more tried to defend Yorio, telling The Post: “These allegations are absurd. This former employee (Frimpong) worked remotely, and Mrs. Yorio only interacted with him a few times on video calls.”
“We will defend against his false allegations. These lawsuits are filled with false allegations by former employees who are demanding multimillion dollar settlements,” the corporate spokesperson added. “Our company works hard to foster a supportive, inclusive workplace, and we will continue to defend against these lawsuits.”
Everyrealm has reportedly filed its personal lawsuits towards Johnson and Frimpong – are are at present requesting to take the complaints out of litigation and into arbitration.
The firm additionally accused the plaintiffs of pursuing an “extortionate” settlement demand of $1.9 million, based on The Post.