Based on the evidentiary claims made in the allegation, it also seems to be one of the more unambiguous cases involving Silicon Valley. The victim did everything in her power to avoid, deter, and afterwards, document the attack, including calling for help during/immediately after the attack, and filing a formal report to the "VP of People Operations" the morning after.

In addition to actual witnesses of the event and her formal HR complaint, the report notes that the CEO sent out a company-wide email apologizing for his behavior. So this wasn't something that anyone in the company could be ignorant of, or dismiss as idle gossip.

That no one apparently chose to speak up publicly -- about this incident or any of the other past allegations of improper culture/behavior, until the lawsuit at hand -- is some indication of the institutional barriers that victims face. If this kind of attack could be kept quiet, think of the less obviously egregious incidents of harassment that victims feel powerless to report.

Yeah - the fact that the head of People Operations attributed these complaints to "cattiness" and told the victim that she should try to be a "cool girl" was stunning to me.

I guess the adage "HR is there to protect the company, not _you_" deserves repeating...