Founder of Afiniti, a famous software company, Zia Chishti has resigned from his senior positions soon after a female colleague blamed him for sexual assault during a foreign trip.
According to a statement posted on the company’s website, the 50-year-old Pakistani-American stepped down as chairman, chief executive officer and director “effective immediately”.
“The board will make additional organisational announcements in the coming days,” the statement added.
A spokesperson for Afiniti said, “we take any allegations of this nature extremely seriously” and that Chishti “strongly disputed all accusations against him”.
The software company said it had “investigated Spottiswoode’s claims with independent counsel and concluded that the arbitral decision she references was erroneous”.
The news also affected the Pakistan Stock Market on Thursday as Chishti is also the CEO of TRG Pakistan Limited.
TRG Pakistan Ltd alone dragged the benchmark index down by 101.51 points as investors offloaded their shares in the technology company.
Harrowing allegations
The development comes after 23-year-old former employee Tatiana Spottiswoode on Tuesday testified before a US congressional committee investigating arbitration clauses that companies write into contracts and the chilling effect they can have on victims of harassment and other crimes.
