• Home
  • Latest
  • Coins2Day 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechVenture Capital

Former Stanford Student Drops Sex Assault Suit Against Silicon Valley Investor

By
Reuters
Reuters
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Reuters
Reuters
Down Arrow Button Icon
November 2, 2015, 8:09 PM ET
TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2013 - Day 3
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 01: Joe Lonsdale of Formation 8 speaks onstage with Alexia Tsotsis at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2013 at The Manhattan Center on May 1, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Brian Ach/Getty Images for TechCrunch)Photograph by Brian Ach — Getty Images

(Reuters) – A woman who accused prominent venture capitalist Joseph Lonsdale of sexual assault in a civil lawsuit has dropped all of her legal claims against him, according to a court filing on Monday.

Lonsdale, who had denied plaintiff Elise Clougherty’s allegations, also dropped counterclaims against her, including defamation, and each side will bear their own costs and expenses connected to the lawsuit, according to a joint filing.

Clougherty, who started dating Lonsdale in 2012 while she was a Stanford University student and he was her mentor, accused him of sexual assault and related charges in a lawsuit filed in January. The case shocked Silicon Valley, in part because of its lurid details.

In a countersuit filed in February, Lonsdale denied the charges, accusing Clougherty of defamation and emotional distress as part of a “vicious and vengeful campaign” that sought to destroy his reputation.

As a result of Clougherty’s allegations, Lonsdale, a 2003 graduate from Stanford, was banned from the university’s campus.

On Monday, a university spokeswoman said a university investigator had considered “new evidence that came to light during litigation” and determined that Lonsdale did not violate Stanford’s sex discrimination policies.

“Accordingly, there is no basis to support a ban from the Stanford campus,” the spokeswoman said in a statement.

No further terms were disclosed in the filing on Monday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

Lonsdale did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. Jennifer Lin Liu, a lawyer for Clougherty, declined to comment.

Lonsdale is a former executive at payments company PayPal. He co-founded secretive technology firm Palantir Technologies, a private company with a valuation of about $9 billion, and is a founding partner of venture-capital firm Formation 8.

Clougherty now works as a data scientist in the Washington, D.C., area, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Sexual harassment has been under the spotlight in recent months in Silicon valley, in large part because of a high-profile discrimination lawsuit brought by a former partner at venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

The former partner, Ellen Pao, lost her case earlier this year, but sparked a broad and ongoing discussion about gender issues in technology.

For more about sexual harassment, watch this Coins2Day video:

About the Author
By Reuters
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Coins2Day Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Coins2Day 500
  • Global 500
  • Coins2Day 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Coins2Day Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Coins2Day Brand Studio
  • Coins2Day Analytics
  • Coins2Day Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Coins2Day
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Economy
An unusual Fed ‘rate check’ triggered a free fall in the U.S. dollar and investors are fleeing into gold
By Jim EdwardsJanuary 26, 2026
21 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Despite running $75 billion automaker General Motors, CEO Mary Barra still responds to ‘every single letter’ she gets by hand
By Preston ForeJanuary 26, 2026
16 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
'The Bermuda Triangle of Talent': 27-year-old Oxford grad turned down McKinsey and Morgan Stanley to find out why Gen Z’s smartest keep selling out
By Eva RoytburgJanuary 25, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
North America
Gates Foundation plans to give away $9 billion in 2026 to prepare for the 2045 closure while slashing hundreds of jobs
By Sydney LakeJanuary 23, 2026
4 days ago
placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Sweden abolished its wealth tax 20 years ago. Then it became a 'paradise for the super-rich'
By Miranda Sheild Johansson and The ConversationJanuary 22, 2026
5 days ago
placeholder alt text
Politics
Trump was surging after the Venezuela raid—then came Jerome Powell, Greenland, and Minnesota. Now it feels like a ‘historic hinge moment’
By Jason MaJanuary 25, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Coins2Day Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Coins2Day Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.


Latest in Tech

markets
InvestingMarkets
S&P 500 wins back all losses from Greenland dip, gold and silver surge even higher
By Stan Choe and The Associated PressJanuary 26, 2026
9 hours ago
PoliticsBillionaires
Billionaire Tom Steyer says he’d vote for California wealth tax
By Eliyahu Kamisher and BloombergJanuary 26, 2026
11 hours ago
Palantir CEO Alex Karp during an interview at the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
InnovationImmigration
Palantir/ICE connections draw fire as questions raised about tool tracking Medicaid data to find people to arrest
By Tristan BoveJanuary 26, 2026
12 hours ago
AIHiring
Job seekers are suing an AI hiring tool used by Microsoft and Paypal for allegedly compiling secretive reports that help employers screen candidates
By Patrick Kulp and Tech BrewJanuary 26, 2026
13 hours ago
NewslettersTerm Sheet
Why two Gen Z college dropouts are combatting financial nihilism with a credit card startup
By Leo SchwartzJanuary 26, 2026
20 hours ago
NewslettersCoins2Day Tech
Meta abruptly halts teen access to its AI characters
By Alexei OreskovicJanuary 26, 2026
21 hours ago