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The personal office of Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg found itself facing allegations of physical assault, racism, transphobia and sexual harassment during the past three years, though none of these allegations were apparently “tested in court”, Business Insider reports.
According to the media outlet, its sources speak of “pervasive mistrust” within the Chan-Zuckerberg family office, and describe “a startling pattern of allegations of misconduct made against multiple personal aides to one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the world.”
One of the claims in question apparently involved a 26-year old female assistant being allegedly assaulted by Shawn Smith, manager of Zuckerberg’s $100 million properties in Hawaii, with the incident taking place during a work event in December 2017.
Smith himself, however, denied assaulting the lady, and was not charged, though he was investigated on suspicion of misdemeanor assault; meanwhile, his alleged victim later told the cops that “she couldn't remember exactly what happened to her that night”.
And while none of the aforementioned allegations led to criminal charges, several workers reportedly said that Zuckerberg family’s efforts to address the complaints were “furtive and peremptory”, focused on “maintaining the Chan-Zuckerbergs' obsessive privacy and lavish lifestyle than operating a professional work environment”.
The Zuckerberg’s family office spokesman Ben LaBolt, however, insisted that the “anonymous allegations” brought forth by Business Insider’s sources are merely “a collection of unfounded rumors, exaggerations, and half-truths which unfairly malign several of our valued employees”.
“We believe that these allegations have been advanced by a small group of disgruntled former employees who are attempting to defame the family office after the family office refused their demands for multi-million dollar payments following their separation of employment", LaBolt declared.