How Bad Can It Get?

A recent lawsuit filed in a San Francisco federal court described the work environment at Gravity4, a company started by Gurbaksh Chahal, and looked at Chahal's behavior. Part of the lawsuit offers a glimpse into the executive offices of Gravity4:

“Chahal, fueled by a toxic cocktail of prescription drugs, party drugs, alcohol, and sycophants, subjected his associates and Gravity4 employees to daily abuse, humiliation, racist taunts, extortionate manipulation, tales of revenge, and threats of violence.”

As with all lawsuits, the language should be taken with a grain of salt. But an entire shaker would be necessary to tame that environment down to something approaching a typical office setting. Or would it? How bad can it really get in a corporate office?

Startup companies[i][ii], family-owned businesses[iii][iv], and small businesses[v] are likely places to find extraordinary perquisites and an engaging workforce. Sadly, a review of lawsuits, HR websites, and news sources indicate that they are also more likely to be filled with creeps who infect the company they start with their own blend of threats, humiliation, racism, sexism, and hate.

Why?

The Wall Street Journal reported that part of Chahal’s repertoire was to engage with other wealthy people to find someone to make their problems disappear. In Chahal’s case[vi], the wealthy person was venture capitalist and politician Steve Westly, and the “someone” was former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown.

The Journal’s article includes email exchanges between Westly and Chahal. At Westly’s suggestion, Chahal met with Brown. Upon returning from the meeting, Chahal wrote Westly:

“Just met him. Wants $1 million if he can make this go away. Just gave him a $250K retainer. If you meet him tomorrow. Apply some pressure on him to make this go away in 2013.”

Westly replied, “Wow. That’s pricey, but probably worth it if he can make it happen. I suspect he will pull out all the stops to get this done.”

Is it a combination of wealth and a lack of oversight that causes bad behavior to flourish? How bad can it get?

[i] https://gizmodo.com/31-flavors-of-bullshit-your-horror-stories-of-working-1714986653

[ii] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/why-employees-at-startups-are-having-to-cope-with-unprecedented-levels-of-anxiety/articleshow/52705347.cms

[iii] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-perils-of-working-for-a-family-owned-business/

[iv] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/ellen-rohr/family-businesses-are-the_b_3749330.html

[v] https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-332379245/human-resources-management-big-problem-for-small

[vi] https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/09/09/how-politician-steve-westly-helped-radiumone-ceo-amid-scandal/