ID Tech harassment suit stands out in accusing female exec

Former chief financial officer left children’s tech camp firm in March

CAMPBELL » Adding an unusual twist to the storm of sexual harassment complaints gripping Silicon Valley, two men who worked at a popular Bay Area tech camp for kids are accusing a female executive of aggressively coming onto them and retaliating when they rebuffed her advances.

A recently filed lawsuit alleges that Meredith Ruble, the former chief financial officer of Campbell-based iD Tech Camps, discussed “depraved sexual acts” during a work dinner, licked an employee’s face while on a company retreat, and then partially undressed and rubbed up against him. A second lawsuit claims she kissed and groped another employee and demeaned him

in public. When the men complained, according to the lawsuits, management swept the issue under the rug, firing one of them and forcing the other to quit.

The lawsuits, a blog post by one of the alleged victims, and interviews with four current and former iD Tech employees describe the type of freewheeling, alcohol-fueled company culture that has sparked controversy at Silicon Valley companies from Uber to Zenefits. But the iD Tech case stands out because it names a high-powered woman as the alleged harasser, in contrast to other recent sexual harassment allegations that have focused on a “boys’ club” culture perpetuated by male tech executives and investors.

San Francisco-based attorney Geoffrey Spellberg, who filed the lawsuits in Santa Clara County Superior Court, said the allegations are even more shocking because the company works with young people.

“It’s a company that works with kids, for goodness’ sake,” Spellberg said. “They have this sort of drunken, sexual, no- control culture, and then yet they’re providing instructional camps for young children.”

Neither Ruble, nor iDTech’s spokesman or CEO responded to multiple phone calls and emails from this news organization seeking comment on the allegations or Ruble’s departure. Ruble left iD Tech in March, according to her LinkedIn profile — which is shortly after Spellberg sent the company the first of two letters threatening to sue. The lawyer representing the defendants did not respond to calls or emails requesting comments.

Experts say reports of women sexually harassing men are rare, but not unheard of. Last year men submitted nearly 17 percent of sexual harassment charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to the EEOC website. When men do report these incidents, they’re more likely to be brushed off, said San Francisco- based employ- ment attorney Kelly Armstrong.

“If a man says, ‘ my female boss is sexually harassing me and she says she wants to do X, Y and Z to me,’ many people will respond, ‘ and the problem is …?'” Armstrong said. “It’s just not taken as seriously.”

Tens of thousands of children around the country attend iD Tech camps each year to get hands- on experience in everything from building robots to filming digital movies, for as much as $1,818 for a week-long overnight camp. Kathryn Ingram and her daughter, Alexa Ingram- Cauchi, cofounded the business in 1999, and it’s now run by Ingram- Cauchi’s brother, Pete Ingram- Cauchi. The company’s website boasts a “wacky” corporate culture where ties are “mostly forbidden.”

But “wacky” wasn’t the word former iD Tech chief digital officer Rohan Chandran, one of the men who sued Ruble, Pete IngramCauchi and the company, used to describe what he experienced there. In April 2016, during his second week at iD Tech, Chandran says he attended a business dinner the company hosted during an education technology conference in San Diego. While enjoying $800 bottles of wine, Ruble pressured the dinner guests to go around the table and list the most “depraved” sexual thing they’ve done, Chandran said in a recent interview. He also described the dinner in his lawsuit, which includes claims of sexual harassment and retaliation, naming Ruble, Ingram- Cauchi and iD Tech.

Ruble also frequently touched him and stroked his arm, which he shrugged off, Chandran said. But he claims the situation escalated that summer during the company’s annual retreat in Mexico. The trip is notorious for heavy drinking, especially the traditional “last man standing” bar crawl organized by the CEO, according to interviews with the four current and former iD Tech employees.

At a karaoke bar during that trip last August, Ruble initiated what Chandran said he thought was a conversation about the company’s finances. Then the CFO started licking his ear and the side of his face, Chan- dran said. When he pushed her away, she hiked up her dress and began grinding, partially unclothed, against him, according to the lawsuit. The interaction left him “completely freaked out,” he said in an interview.

Chandran claims he spoke to the CEO, IngramCauchi, about the incident, expecting Ruble would be fired. Instead, Ingram- Cauchi told her not to drink at company events, according to the lawsuit. After that, Ruble, who controlled Chandran’s budget, began questioning every move he made, he said. Then, after what Chandran says was a stellar performance review in November, he was fired without explanation in January, according to his lawsuit.

“I’m thinking maybe if I stand up in some way, this company will wake up and there will be change,” Chandran said in an interview, “because who knows who else is being impacted in the company?”

Nicholas Garibay, a former sales representative at iD Tech, told a similar story in another lawsuit filed last month. During last year’s Mexico retreat, Ruble asked Garibay if he was gay, said she liked being with a “cute gay guy,” kissed his cheek and forehead, and groped him, according to the complaint.

Later, when Garibay said he would not attend the “last man standing” pub crawl, Ruble, in front of other employees, ordered Garibay to attend, called him a demeaning name and demanded that he carry her purse, according to the complaint.

Garibay claims he later spoke about Ruble’s behavior to Ingram- Cauchi, who promised to “take care of it.” But instead, Garibay’s superiors began singling him out for bizarre criticism, telling him he clapped too loudly in a meeting, and that he needed to change his “aura and energy,” according to the complaint. Garibay says the hostile work environment finally drove him to quit in March.

“I was just waking up not wanting to go to work every day,” he said in an interview. “I was pretty miserable.”