Square COO Keith Rabois’s resignation last week was tied to sexual harassment allegations from a Square employee, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
Square announced on Friday that an attorney representing the employee had reached out to Square two weeks previously with the allegations. Mr. Rabois maintains he did nothing wrong and resigned to spare the company the distraction of a lawsuit.
Mr. Rabois acknowledged that he had an intimate relationship with a Square employee that began before the employee was hired by Square.
A former employee of PayPal and LinkedIn, Mr, Rabois is described as a high-profile figure in Silicon Valley and a member of the so-called “PayPal mafia” — early PayPal employees who have since moved on to other startups.
The news comes at an awkward time for Square, the Journal reports, as the San Francisco-based company recently concluded a “large” round of funding based on a $3.25 billion valuation.
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