The CEO of a New York-based Metaverse company has been accused of sexually harassing two of his African-American subordinates. The former NFL player claims she gave him a bizarre payoff and encouraged him to have sex with her co-worker, she claims.
Teyo Johnson — a former Oakland Raiders tight end who also played ball as an undergraduate at Stanford University — said Janine Yorio, CEO of Everyrealm. preside over a toxic work environment There, she made lewd references to the sex lives of her employees and racial slurs directed at black employees. This included remarks threatening to “deal” Johnson if he didn’t do his job.
In a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court against Yorio and Everyrealm, Yorio and Everyrealm’s backers include Silicon Valley venture Andreessen Horowitz, Paris Hilton, It draws on celebrity endorsements such as Will Smith, The Weeknd and more. A game in which colleagues and clients were encouraged to sleep together”.
In March, Johnson claimed Yorio told him about “sex-related games she encouraged her employees to play.” Business trip to SXSW (South By Southwest) A festival held in Austin, Texas. “KYP” or “KYC” for “Know Your Persons” (“Know Your Client”) was “a euphemism for having sex or having a relationship with a colleague or business partner,” according to the complaint. .
Yorio told Johnson that her “method of paying for the game” was “to be cuckolded by a colleague on a business trip,” the lawsuit alleges. It is said that he asked Johnson was “surprised” by Yorio’s proposal and “politely told her that he was ‘already in a really close relationship with someone,'” the lawsuit states.
That same night, Johnson stated in plain language that Yorio came to his hotel room in Austin and believed he was “tricking his girlfriend” to enter the company’s KYP game. After alluding, he claimed that Yorio was “testing water” with him. he complains.
Johnson also alleged that Yorio made offensive jokes about his girlfriend’s menstrual cycle and called him a “stupid black man” and “the whitest black man.” slanderous slurs include “d-ck,” “big swing d-ck,” and “f–king d-ck.”
The company’s general counsel, William Carr, once called famous hotel heiress Paris Hilton — an Every Realm investor who was pictured with Yorio at an earlier event — “a night in Paris.” The Internet in 2004, according to the lawsuit.
“I was horrified to hear Kerr make derogatory comments and sexually harassing nicknames in order to carry out my duties,” said Johnson, who worked to manage celebrity accounts, including those for Hilton. The lawsuit alleges
The Washington Post reached out to Hilton for comment.
Johnson claims he was fired after whistling into a cryptocurrency-based “gambling scheme” involving professional soccer player NFT (non-fungible token) Trump. According to Johnson, the scheme “included a virtual currency version of his sports fantasies where users purchased packs of his NFTs representing professional football playing cards.”
According to the lawsuit, “users can pool their virtual currency and win prizes if their NFT playing cards outperform other players’ NFTs.” According to the filing, Johnson said the scheme “violates many New York and federal laws” because “randomizing packs of cards … is of high quality as a game of chance and is therefore illegal.” and “reasonably believed”.
Johnson has said his sports ties include an “active business relationship” with former NBA star Yao Ming, and his proposal to forge a relationship with Everyrealm and the NFL is a sign that he It claims to have been intentionally sabotaged by Yorio and her management in retaliation for whistling. About crypto schemes.
The NFT project was scrapped after he reported his concerns to executives, and according to court papers, Yorio “tormented” Johnson, who ended up in her “doghouse.”
When contacted by The Post, an Everyrealm spokesperson denied the allegations, calling them “lies.”
“As we stated in our court filings, this employee had only been with the company for three months and was dismissed for poor performance, expense account abuse, and falling asleep at work. ‘ said the spokesperson in a statement.
EveryRealm also claimed in the legal document that Johnson “openly and routinely defamed the child’s mother and demanded that EveryRealm pay a portion of her wages in cash to avoid child support garnishment.”
The company said it denied Johnson’s alleged demands.
“Johnson made a variety of inappropriate comments about other women in his life at work, disparaged young female employees as ‘newcomers’, and disgusted them by refusing to meet with them.” . [Everyrealm co-founder Julia] Schwartz as “that b—h,” and Mrs. Yorio as “that crazy b—h,” the company claimed in the filing.
Everyrealm, a “metaverse technology and infrastructure company,” has received $20 million in venture capital from Andreessen Horowitz. The Silicon Valley company did not respond to a request for comment.
When asked for comment by The Post, Seppinni replied:
Yorio faces similar charges from another former African-American employee in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court last week. Gatsby Frimpong, who has worked as a product manager at Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Cisco Systems, argued that salaries at Every Realm were far less than white engineering directors were offered in similar jobs, and Yorio said he for a promotion after he rejected her sexual advances.
Yorio once told Frimpong at an engineering and product conference: [that he] Wet customers like [he] On another occasion, Yorio said she and her husband, Jesse Yorio, were “married only in the Metaverse.”
An Everyrealm spokesperson told The Post: This former employee (Flimpon) is working remotely and Mrs. Yorio has only had a few video calls with him,” a company representative said.
“We defend him against his false claims. These lawsuits are riddled with false allegations by former employees who are seeking multi-million dollar settlements,” a company spokesperson said. Added. “Our company works hard to promote a supportive and inclusive workplace, and we will continue to defend ourselves against these lawsuits.”
A third former employee, Catherine Yost, 46, who was the head of human resources at EveryRealm, also accused Yorio of “discriminatory and unlawful policies and practices,” including sexually suggestive remarks about her colleague’s love life and orientation. I am suing the company for
Yost, who also knew Yorio from high school, confided in Yorio that he suffered from alcoholism. It will help distract attention from the fact that you don’t drink at all.
Despite this, Yorio told an employee at the event, “I need to get a drink for Kathy SIX!
When asked to respond to Yost’s allegations, an EveryRealm spokesperson told the Post:
“Everyrealm works hard to promote a supportive and inclusive workplace and will continue to defend ourselves against these lawsuits.”
Everyrealm has filed its own lawsuit against all three plaintiffs seeking to remove the complaint from the lawsuit and bring it to arbitration. Everyrealm also accuses the plaintiff of seeking her $1.9 million “outrageous” settlement demand.
