A former employee of a company co-founded by
The complaint, filed on 7 September in San Diego Superior Court in California against Synthetic Genomics, which is located in San Diego, was first reported on 19 September by The San Diego Union Tribune. Attorney Teresa Spehar, former vice president of intellectual property for the company, alleges that women were paid less than men, promoted less often, left out of meetings, and discriminated against “with gender-based stereotypes.” Spehar says she was fired in June, after more than 8 years with the company.
Spehar’s suit alleges that in one incident at a dinner meeting with a client, Venter, the company’s chairman and co–chief scientific officer, put his arm around another woman executive and loudly told her that she was “‘the only one without a penis here!’ or words to that effect.” Spehar, who says she suffered a loss of income and employment opportunities, among other harms, has asked for unspecified damages.
