Michael Goguen, the longtime venture capitalist who was asked to leave Sequoia Capital last week following a stunning breach of contract complaint, has just filed a counter complaint in San Mateo County Court.
In reaction to claims that Goguen sexually and emotionally abused a woman named Amber Laurel Baptiste for more than a decade, and then failed to follow through on an agreement to pay her $40 million to keep her claims confidential, Goguen is now counter-suing Baptiste for extortion.
He’s not holding any punches. In his countersuit, Goguen’s legal team paints a picture of a woman in love with him, and features a long list of text and email messages to underscore that depiction.
Among them: “The love that I hold in my heart for you was instant. It is a perfect love. And to me it is the perfect way to love someone. It is forever and unconditional;” “I love our visits. I feel so blessed to have met you and have been able to maintain a special relationship with you. I can only hope that it continues;” “I know it feels really good when we are together and to me it feels so perfect and I never want to let go of you;” and “I miss you so Much. My Body Misses you so Much. I love you so Much.”
The counter-complaint also features pictures that Baptiste had allegedly sent to Goguen of herself, dressed in lacy lingerie.
Goguen had joined Sequoia Capital in 1996, five years after getting his master’s degree in electrical engineering from Stanford. (He studied electrical engineering as an undergrad at Cornell.)
In her complaint, Baptiste’s legal firm had written that Baptiste had sexually, physically and emotionally for over 13 years,” beginning soon after she was brought to the U.S. as a “victim of human trafficking.”
Her complaint provides excruciatingly detailed accusations of these alleged abuses, including “countless hours of forced sodomy, verbal abuse,” and other “demeaning rituals.”
But in Goguen’s counter-complaint, it states that, “Far from being ‘forcibly sodomized’ and ‘left bleeding alone on the floor of a hotel room . . . nearly hemorrhaging to death,’ the supposed anal tear was so minor that Mr. Goguen was unaware of it until Ms. Baptiste emailed him after the fact gushing about how wonderful the night was and noting that she was scheduled to have a ‘small surgery’ that was ‘not a big deal.’ She wrote of that night: ‘I would never erase that night for anything. It was beautiful each and every moment;”The last night together was really incredible for me. I could feel so many things moving between us that I have not felt before. Hopefully I will feel you again soon.'”
Goguen’s counter-complaint goes on to assert that once “scorned,” Baptiste began to make “malicious allegations” that “frightened Mr. Goguen—not only for what they would do to his personal and professional reputation, but also the devastation such allegations would wreak on his family. When faced with the false and libelous claims she has now asserted in this lawsuit, Mr. Goguen wanted Ms. Baptiste to leave him and his family alone, and felt that he had no choice but to pay her to accomplish this.”
It says Goguen “acquiesced” to the “$40 million that she was arbitrarily demanding,” including on the condition that she “stay away from Mr. Goguen and stop her harassment.”
According to his counter-complaint, however, after Goguen made the first of the four payments, for $10 million, “Ms. Baptiste resumed her campaign of harassment, sending thousands of text messages after signing the document, including ones that disparaged Mr. Goguen and his family and threatened to send him to jail unless he accelerated the payment schedule.”
Baptiste’s complaint had featured a copy of the alleged agreement, which looks to feature both her signature and that of Goguen.
The agreement states that: “For a period of time, Amber and Michael were involved in a personal relationship. Amber had prepared and contemplated filing a lawsuit against Michael seeking monetary damages for personal injury and other claims arising from their prior relationship. Michael desires that all details relating to their relationship remain confidential, and Amber is willing to agree thereto. By signing this agreement, neither party is making any admission regarding any wrongdoing by that party. This release and its terms pertain to a disputed claim and do not constitute and admission of liability by either party.
“In exchange for the payment set forth by Michael below, Amber is willing to keep confidential all information relating to their relationship, her contemplated lawsuit against Michael, and relating to this agreement, to release all claims she may have against Michael for any harm or damage of any type which she may have suffered or may in the future suffer by reason of any action or inaction by Michael or by reason of their interaction or relationship with each other and to forebear from bringing any action or lawsuit or asserting any claim whatsoever against Michael, on the terms set forth hereafter.”
The agreement goes on to state that: Michael shall pay Amber the sum of $40,000,000 as consideration for the terms of this Agreement and her release of all claims, and this consideration shall be paid in payments only after this Release and Personal Injury Settlement Agreement being signed by both parties and then according to the following payment schedule.”
The contract then outlines four payments that would have been completed by this past December.
Baptiste, who is characterized in Goguen’s cross-complaint as a “native and citizen of Canada” who in 2002 “entered into a sham marriage for the primary purpose of circumventing U.S. immigration laws and is now a resident of Los Angeles,” is seeking the enforcement of that settlement agreement, along with attorney’s fees and other compensatory damages.
In Whitefish, Montana, where Goguen has a home, he has been a “hero” to many locals, owing to his philanthropic efforts, says one source who vacations there. Among his local contributions: a trail system called The Whitefish Trail and two state-of-the-art helicopters furnished on behalf on the local search and rescue program.
According to a new report by a local outlet called the Flathead Beacon, Goguen has invested “untold millions more into an assortment of local causes and community investments, as well as business ventures,” including a local bar and a Montana company that produces rifles and barrels for the U.S. Military. The article says that in 2014, Goguen further donated “$2 million over five years to the state’s Internet Crimes Against Children task force in an effort to protect kids from online predators.”
“I don’t know what more can be said,” the chairman of a local non-profit told The Missoulian in 2012 of Goguen. “He’s a great and gracious guy. I’m impressed that a gentleman who’s been so successful in his professional career would find it in his heart to do this for the community. He’s a very modest and quiet man. He’s humble and soft-spoken.”
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