Christian Lanng, co-founder of a San Francisco technology company, is accused of forcing his former assistant to sign an inappropriate “slave contract,” exposing her to years of distressing and unwanted sexual horror.
Lanng allegedly imposed the contract on his executive assistant shortly after hiring her at Tradeshift, according to lawsuit, which was filed on Thursday.
In court documents, the individual, identified as Jane Doe, claims Christian Lanng raped and abused her for years. The software firm is also named in the lawsuit.
Lanng’s torment reportedly included “inflicting physical pain through various means, urinating on her, and regularly using foreign objects to penetrate her,” as detailed in the lawsuit initially reported by the Mercury News.
These troubling allegations surfaced shortly after the executive was fired as CEO earlier this year for “gross misconduct on multiple grounds.” He was fired after management learned of “serious allegations of sexual assault and harassment” against him.
The person making the accusations also claimed that she was fired in 2020 after raising concerns with human resources about the nine-page “slave contract,” which she claimed she was forced to sign, according to the New York Post.
According to a fictitious copy of the contract attached to the lawsuit, Doe had purportedly agreed to “always be sexually available for her master when he needs sex and never to refuse him sex even when not wearing the [day] collar.”
“Whenever she sees her master in private for the first time, she is to kneel and ask if there is anything she can do for him,” the purported contract added. The document also said that Christian Lanng was allowed “any punishment the master decides to inflict, whether earned or not” – although it did note that it was the “master’s responsibility” to avoid killing the woman or causing permanent injury.
Accuser details disturbing terms in alleged “slave contract” with Christian Lanng
The slave was required to accept her punishments “without being angry, sullen, or frustrated with her master” and to “thank him after.”
According to the lawsuit, the former assistant was also required to keep a “diary” documenting the accused’s “subjugation and enslavement” of her. She had also reportedly agreed to be physically punished “with a cane” if she did not write submissive entries.
According to the accuser, Christian Lanng is accused of subjecting the woman to severe beatings, causing her to bleed, and engaging in acts of violation with inanimate objects.
According to the legal filing, the accuser was contractually bound to dress “properly, femininely” and maintain a weight between 130 and 155 pounds. Furthermore, she allegedly agreed to provide Lanng with weekly progress reports.
“The slave agrees to submit completely to the master in all ways. There are no boundaries of place, time, or situation in which the slave may willfully refuse to obey the master’s directive without risking punishment,” the contract read, according to the lawsuit.
“The slave also agrees that once entered into the Slavery Contract, their body belongs to their master to be used as seen fit within the guidelines defined herein. The slave’s possessions likewise belong to the master, including all assets, finances, online accounts, and material goods, to do with as they see fit.”
Tradeshift denies allegations
The former assistant said she signed the 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.”
A Tradeshift representative told The New York Post that the company “denies the allegations in the claim insofar as they are made against the company,” but declined to comment further, referring back to the statement it issued in October announcing Lanng’s dismissal.
Lanng strongly denied the allegations in a statement to The Washington Post, claiming that the pair had a “consensual” sexual relationship. Provide a title in lowercase.
