Afiniti founder Zia Chisti has resigned as the Chairman and CEO of the American software company after a former employee accused him of sexually assaulting and hitting her.
“The Board of Directors of Afiniti, Ltd. (“Afiniti”) announces that Mr Zia Chishti has stepped down from his role as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of Afiniti, effective immediately. The Board will make additional organizational announcements in the coming days“, Afiniti stated in a statement on its website, without elaborating.
The software company said it had “investigated Spottiswoode’s claims with independent counsel and concluded that the arbitral decision she references was erroneous“.
The news also affected the Pakistan Stock Market on Thursday as Chishti is TRG Pakistan Limited’s CEO.
According to Topline Securities, TRG Pakistan Ltd alone pulled the benchmark index down by 101.51 points as investors offloaded their shares in the technology company.
Troubling Accusations
Tatiana Spottiswoode, who joined Afiniti at the age of 23 in 2016, reported to the US House Judiciary Committee that Zia Chishti urged her into having sex with him and attacked her, causing “bruises and symptoms of concussion”.
On Tuesday, the progress comes after 23-year-old former employee Tatiana Spottiswoode claimed before a US congressional committee investigating arbitration clauses that companies write into contracts and the chilling effect they can have on victims of harassment and other crimes, Bloomberg reported.
According to Spottiswoode, who is the daughter of an Afiniti co-founder, the report said that Chishti had sexually assaulted her during a business trip to Brazil and had filed for arbitration to silence her after she accused him.
“My body was covered with scratches, cuts and contusions. I had bruises around my neck that looked like I had been strangled, a large bump on my head, a black eye,” the report quoted her as saying.
She also talked about a visit to Dubai in 2016 where she alleged Chishti groped her in front of co-workers and assaulted a colleague.
According to her, the Pakistani-American entrepreneur invited her to a ski trip “which was designed to groom me“.
Chishti later urged her to join Afiniti for good career growth prospects. Spottiswoode added that she signed a contract with the company that included “an arbitration agreement with a strong confidentiality clause”.
In her testimony, she claimed Chishti humiliated her in front of other employees in Dubai by offensively grabbing her.
“I felt completely trapped and hopeless… I didn’t want to lose my job, I didn’t want him to get any angrier” she said, alleging that he beat her while having sex.
She said she suffered “bruises” around her neck and a “bump” on her head in the alleged incident.
But, Chishti, 50 years old, denied the accusation, claiming he is “deeply supportive of women in the workplace.“
“It’s one of my priorities to see that they do absolutely as well as they can… As a result, these allegations are particularly hurtful,” he said, according to The New York Times.
David Cameron Left
After the accusations surfaced, former UK prime minister David Cameron on Wednesday also left as Chairman of the firm’s Advisory Board.
According to Sky News, a spokesperson for Cameron said he had “absolutely no knowledge” of the allegations until Spottiswoode’s testimony and said they allegedly took place before he began chairing the Board in 2019.
“Cameron understands that the allegations are disputed, but disagrees with the approach being taken by the company in responding to the matter,” the report cited the spokesperson as saying.
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