A fired San Francisco tech CEO accused in a shocking new lawsuit of enslaving his assistant with a ‘sexual slave contract’ has hit back, claiming he is being ‘shamed’ over his private life in a malicious campaign for ‘personal financial gain.’
Christian Lanng, 45, the former head of billion-dollar software firm Tradeshift, allegedly coerced an unnamed staffer, identified only as Jane Doe, into a ‘dark abyss’ of sexual abuse and sadistic torture.
A lawsuit filed on Thursday, reported by Mercury News, alleged Lanng forced his assistant to sign a contract allowing him to inflict ‘physical pain on her by various means, urinating on her and routinely penetrating her person with foreign objects.’
Lanng was fired from the Bay Area startup in October for ‘gross misconduct on multiple grounds’, with Tradeshift saying it made the decision following ‘serious allegations of sexual assault and harassment’ against the CEO.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, Lanng claimed he and his accuser were in a consensual relationship, and he said the lawsuit was fueled by ‘malicious motives’ that ‘underscore an ugly paradox in our society.’
‘We celebrate sex so long as it’s contained in fiction for our entertainment. But in real life, we condemn and pass judgment. I’m hopeful that one day, shaming consenting adults for what they do in their bedrooms will be seen as despicable, like “outing” someone’s sexual orientation in the 20th century,’ he said.
‘Words cannot adequately express how disheartening it is that a highly distorted version of the extremely intimate details of a private consensual sexual relationship is now not only in the public domain but also being used to defame me for personal financial gain.’
Former Tradeshift CEO Christian Lanng, 45, is accused of coercing a staffer into a ‘sex contract’ and subjecting her to years of sexual abuse and sadistic torture
Lanng was fired from Tradeshift in October for ‘gross misconduct on multiple grounds’ following ‘serious allegations of sexual assault and harassment’ against the CEO
The lawsuit was filed Thursday in San Francisco County Superior Court against Lanng and Tradeshift, claiming the abuse started within months of her being hired at the tech firm.
Tradeshift is a cloud network that services over 1.5 million businesses.
A copy of the alleged slave contract reported by Mercury News was purportedly nine pages long, and included provisions ordering Doe to serve as a sex slave for the CEO and perform demeaning tasks while at work.
This reportedly saw her instructed to be ‘always sexually available for her master when he needs sex and to never refuse him sex even when not wearing the collar.’
Another stipulated that whenever she saw Lanng ‘in private for the first time, she is to kneel and ask if there is anything she can do for him.’
In one chilling order in an ‘at work’ section of the lawsuit, Doe was told she was free to ‘act independently as long as she remembers she is her master’s property and she is there to please him and for no other reason.’
It is also claimed that she was given mandatory sex acts to complete, had to keep her weight between 130 and 155 pounds, and was ordered to dress in ‘a proper, feminine way, preferably skirts, dresses and stockings.’
She was reportedly given a ‘day collar’ to wear when out with Lanng’, and the alleged contract said he would ‘work to shape the slave towards his goal of the perfect woman.’
Lanng allegedly gave his assistant mandatory sex acts to complete, had to keep her weight between 130 and 155 pounds, and ordered her to dress in ‘a proper, feminine way, preferably skirts, dresses and stockings’
Lanng’s former assistant said she put up with his alleged abuse at Tradeshift for years because she loved her job, was accomplishing important work in her new role and did not want to lose the opportunity to work’
The purported contract allowed ‘any punishment the master decides to inflict, whether earned or not’, which allegedly included spanking, slapping and electric shocks.
The alleged contract cited Lanng’s ‘responsibility’ not to kill Doe or inflict permanent bodily harm as he doled out the punishments.
‘The slave agrees to always taking her punishments without being angry, sullen or frustrated with her master and thank him after,’ the document allegedly ordered.
Doe also claims she was ‘beat to the point of bleeding’, and she was abused with ‘inanimate objects.’
The lawsuit alleges that Lanng forced Doe to deep a ‘diary’ of ‘his subjugation and enslavement of her’, and he would ‘beat Jane Doe with a cane if she did not write submissive entries in the ‘diary.”
Lanng has previously denied allegations of sexual misconduct following his firing, telling TechCrunch in October: ‘There has never been an HR case, complaint or formal allegation filed against me at Tradeshift.’
However, Doe alleges that she did tell the company’s human resources department and warned officials about her ‘suffering at the hands of the CEO under the slave contract’, per the lawsuit.
The filing claimed that Doe signed the ‘slave contract’ because she ‘loved her job, was accomplishing important work in her new role and did not want to lose the opportunity to work a Tradeshift.’
Lanng (pictured in a recent podcast appearance) has denied the allegations against him and said there had ‘never been an HR case, complaint or formal allegation filed against me at Tradeshift’
However, she claims that the firm retaliated to her filing a complaint by firing her in 2020. It is unclear how long she had worked at the company.
Doe alleges that she tried to leave the contract several times over the years, ‘but when she did, Lanng would become enraged, even violent.’ This allegedly included one incident where Lanng assaulted her in Davos, Switzerland.
The lawsuit also reportedly included Tradeshift’s termination letter to Lanng, which cited ‘a pattern’ of sexual misconduct allegations against him.
It allegedly claimed the firm was in possession of ‘detailed evidence’ from a different woman, but Lanng had failed to pay a settlement agreement in May 2022.
Doe also claims in her lawsuit that she is in contact with ‘other victims… in connection with Lanng, under the aegis of Tradeshift.’
Lanng’s alleged years-long ordeal left Doe ‘bedridden and in a precarious psychological state for almost two years, and she continues to suffer from PTSD.
The lawsuit claims she has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical and therapeutic care, and now ‘bears numerous scars and bodily damage, remnants from the actual, physical sexual torture she endured at Lanng’s hands while an employee at Tradeshift.’
In a statement to DailyMail.com, Langg hit back at the claims against him and saifd they were being levied to extort ‘financial gain’ from him.
‘As a co-founder and CEO of Tradeshift for more than a decade, I want to be very clear: Tradeshift never condoned or concealed sexual harassment claims.
‘The claims in this lawsuit are defamatory and not reflective of my past relationship with the plaintiff.
‘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.
‘The only details of the salacious complaint against me that are truthful are that the plaintiff and I were in a sexual relationship and that she was once employed at Tradeshift. This relationship, which predated her employment at Tradeshift, ended eight months after she joined the company.
The statement continued: ‘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.
‘The plaintiff went on to work for Tradeshift for approximately five more years after our relationship ended, rising in the ranks, outside of my purview, through a series of promotions as Tradeshift grew from a dozen employees to over 1,000 across multiple cities around the world.
‘Her position was eliminated during one of several rounds of layoffs Tradeshift has unfortunately had to undergo.
‘Words cannot adequately express how disheartening it is that a highly distorted version of the extremely intimate details of a private consensual sexual relationship is now not only in the public domain but also being used to defame me for personal financial gain.
‘This is a cynical and callous affront to victims of sexual violence and human trafficking.’
