CEO resigns from tech firm amid fallout over racist rant

A Silicon Valley tech executive stepped down from his company after he was captured on video yelling racist remarks at a family celebrating a birthday at a Carmel Valley restaurant.

Michael Lofthouse said Saturday that he stepped down earlier last week from his position as CEO of Solid8, a Los Gatos information technology strategy company, in response to the Fourth of July incident.

“I can confirm that I have stepped down from Solid8, terminating all business relationships with immediate effect,” he said in a statement. “I will make it my duty to ensure my personal actions do not continue to have a detrimental impact on those people closest to me.”

In a nowviral video posted on social media, Lofthouse held up his middle finger and said “Trump’s gonna f— you” and “F—ing Asian piece of s—” to a family, which said it had just sung “Happy Birthday” at Lucia Restaurant & Bar in the Bernardus Lodge & Spa.

Lofthouse issued an apology earlier but said in his Saturday statement that it “did not go far enough.”

Raymond Orosa, one of the family members whom Lofthouse harassed, earlier told ABC7 that the first apology was “just saving face.”

“I don’t believe his words because his actions speak louder than the words he’s saying,” Orosa said.

Lofthouse said Saturday that he is “dedicated to changing.” He told The Chronicle he hopes to speak to the people he verbally harassed.

“I have once again begun my journey back to sobriety and have enrolled in an antiracist program with immediate effect,” Lofthouse said in his statement. “My comments towards the families involved were racist, hurtful and deeply inappropriate. The reactions to what was said have been deserved.”

“To the Chan and Orosa families, (food server) Gennica Cochran and the restaurant Bernardus please accept my heartfelt and sincere apologies, I hope that the conversations and awareness that this incident has created can act as a catalyst for necessary change,” Lofthouse said.

A Change.org petition calling for Lofthouse’s termination garnered nearly 25,000 signatures in four days.

Anna Bauman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: anna. bauman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @abauman2