When the board of directors at artificial intelligence software startup DataRobot pushed out its CEO last March, they did so partly because the executive, Jeremy Achin, feuded with his sales teams and resisted the idea of taking the company public.
But board members also hoped a change would foster a more welcoming environment for women, according to Chris Lynch, the first investor in DataRobot and chair of its board. That’s because the board had heard that some female DataRobot managers and employees had said they experienced forms of misogyny at the company while Achin was running it, according to three senior people currently at the company and a former manager.
Instead, after Achin’s departure several female managers last summer lodged complaints against several male executives, at least two of whom had reported to him. The women alleged that the executives favored male employees for promotions, made sexist comments during meetings and threatened to fire the women if they complained to colleagues, among other transgressions, according to two people with direct knowledge of the complaints, which haven’t previously been reported. Around that time, investors including Tiger Global Management, Morgan Stanley, Franklin Templeton and Sutter Hill Ventures pegged the company’s private valuation at $6 billion in a new funding round.