Ex-staffers of the metaverse company have accused CEO Janine Yorio of ‘vulgar’ sex talk and harassment, but she says it’s all a big shakedown.
While Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg appears to befrom his metaverse dreams, other entrepreneurs have their own visions for virtual worlds—including immersive media startup Everyrealm, which promotes members-only “ultra-luxury” spaces that will be sold as NFTs, and a “premier island community” on The Sandbox platform, called Fantasy Islands, where it sold a digital $650,000 superyacht that one writer onceIn a recent video podcast, Everyrealm CEO Janine Yorio presented a transgressive vision...
The startup argues Johnson and three other former employees engaged “in a coordinated effort to shake down” the company for out-of-court settlements totaling $7.4 million. On Friday, Johnson filed an amended complaint adding claims of post-employment retaliation and alleging Everyrealm “leaked some or all of his employee personnel file” and private tax returns to journalists and other third parties.
“Against repeated advice, I remain staunchly opposed to ‘writing a check’ to make these baseless lawsuits go away,” Yorio said. “We didn’t do any of these things, and so I refuse to succumb to lies and terrorist legal tactics.”When these lawsuits hit, I was warned that the public blowback would be worse than normal precisely because I’m a woman.“These former employees worked at Everyrealm for only a few months each, one quit voluntarily and two were fired for poor performance.
Teyo Johnson, a two-sport standout at Stanford, was drafted by Oakland Raiders in 2003 before playing for the Arizona Cardinals and Buffalo Bills. He also did a stint in the Canadian Football League in 2009, when thedescribed him as “an entrepreneur who’s been part of two high-tech startup businesses,” “world traveler” and “good buddy of NBA star Yao Ming.”
Yorio and executives were “impressed by this, Mr. Johnson’s professional network, his experience in commercial real estate, and his skills” and eventually made him Everyrealm’s Director of Strategic Partnerships in March 2022, the complaint says. Johnson claims his then-girlfriend also became a target. When the woman brought her service dog to a company party, the lawsuit says, Yorio and fellow executive Julia Schwartz gave them “dirty looks” and “refused to acknowledge” them.
Johnson claims this led to the arrangement falling through, and that Yorio demanded Johnson “fix it.” He says he was demoted after failing to revive the deal, placed on a retaliatory performance improvement plan, and ordered to hand his entire personal rolodex to Schwartz and another employee who replaced him.
Yorio is also accused of telling Johnson, “[You’re] lucky that went well, now I don’t have to trade you” after he led a meeting with LeBron James’ entertainment company. The lawsuit says she “made this same, tired racist comment numerous times.” The company put forward accusations of their own, saying “it was Johnson who encouraged discussions regarding sexuality and promiscuity” and filed an exhibit showing a Slack message between Johnson and Kerr. “What’s the latest from Las Vegas?” Kerr asked, and in reply, Johnson shared a selfie and a photo of three women at a high rise overlooking a cityscape. “Who’s the chica in the hat?” Kerr asked. Johnson answered, “21 year old smoke show, her BF is older than me.
Seppinni said in court papers that Everyrealm’s exhibits were “scrounged from a one-sided discovery process” and “lack context,” court papers reveal.
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