A female executive in Yahoo Inc. has been sued in California by another woman, who once worked under her. The high-level executive has been accused of sexually harassing her junior and wrongfully terminating her.
According to a complaint filed on July 8 in Santa Clara Superior Court in San Jose, Maria Zhang, a senior director of engineering at Yahoo Mobile, has been sued by Nan Shi, who worked as a principal software engineer in Yahoo from Febraury 2013, Reuters reports.
The complainant has accused Zhang of coercing her into having oral and digital sex on many occasions and promised her a bright future in the company if she continued having sex with Zhang.
The lawsuit, in which Shi is seeking monetary as well as punitive damages, also named Yahoo as a defendant. The company has, however rejected the claims made by Shi and has said the allegations were false.
"There is absolutely no basis or truth to the allegations against Maria Zhang. Maria is an exemplary Yahoo executive and we intend to fight vigorously to clear her name," a Yahoo representative told Reuters.
Shi filed her sexual harassment lawsuit Friday alleging that she was terminated after she later refused Zhang's advances. Zhang has now been charged with sexual-harassment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and wrongful termination.
The lawsuit is the latest in a string of cases related to sexual harassment over the past few months. Tinder chief executive Sean Rad faces a sexual harassment and sex discrimination lawsuit from a former VP of marketing at the company, the Business Insider notes.
GitHub CEO Tom Preston-Werner stepped down after an employee accused him of sexual harassment. Urban Airship's Scott Kveton also took an extended leave of absence after allegations that he raped his ex-girlfriend.
Shi's attorney has said that Zhang and Shi both came to Yahoo after the software giant acquired the Seattle mobile software company where both of them worked.
Shi is said to have moved into the Yahoo temporary housing and Zhang soon moved in with her. It is alleged that it was then that the harassment took place.
