Max-Josef Meier, the founder of the Munich startup Finn.Auto, talks about his assaults on employees and how the company is dealing with the incident.
The founder and CEO of the Munich startup Finn.Auto, Max-Josef Meier, sexually harassed several employees at a company party almost a year and a half ago. Meier admitted this to the business magazine Capital after he was confronted with the allegations about the incident. According to Capital research, he is said to have harassed his employees in nine cases at the Christmas party in 2021.
Meier confirms this to Capital. He was heavily intoxicated and has no memories of the incidents, says the Finn boss. “According to the descriptions, I made abusive verbal statements and requests to several women that evening, in the presence of others, touched their buttocks and tried to kiss some of them without consent,” reports Meier. One of his co-founders eventually kicked him out of the party. “It was a shock for me,” says the 38-year-old. “The situation was completely new for all of us and we tried to do the best we could.”
CEO takes a proactive approach to sexual harassment
It is unusual for Meier to take an offensive stance on the subject. Never before has a CEO spoken so openly about his own missteps. The Finn boss tries to make a clean sweep in the Capital interview. He also refers to the months of internal processing of what happened that evening, a specially set up commission, and he expresses his regret. “I am infinitely sorry for the misconduct to this day and I would like to apologize again to those affected, but also to my partner and all Finn employees,” said Meier. He apologized to the women concerned in personal conversations and communicated the case internally to all employees and investors on the first working day after the Christmas party. “I also offered my resignation,” said Meier.
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Capital was able to partially verify the CEO’s statements through statements from employees and internal documents. Those affected at Finn, who Capital was able to contact, did not want to comment on what happened at the Christmas party. According to the company, an affected employee resigned as a direct reaction to the Christmas party, and two other affected employees have now also left Finn.
Temporarily retiring from Finn.Auto-CEO
Meier initially withdrew from the company for two and a half months during the investigation phase. His return as CEO was conditional, which included therapy and leadership training for him.
Finn, is a startup from Munich with around 400 employees that offers cars via an app that you can subscribe to for a monthly fee.
Source: Stern