Billionaire-backed news outlet the San Francisco Standard and CEO sued, accused of sexual harassment

A former employee at the San Francisco Standard filed a lawsuit Sept. 9 against the news outlet and its CEO and co-founder Griffin Gaffney, alleging gender discrimination, a hostile work environment and sexual harassment.

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The complaint accused Gaffney of repeatedly belittling women at the publication, including the plaintiff, Julia Ryan, who worked as the Standard’s director of growth from June 2024 to August 2025. Ryan alleged that she was fired in retaliation after she raised concerns about Gaffney’s treatment of female colleagues.

According to the lawsuit, in October 2024, Ryan began reporting directly to Gaffney, who co-founded the publication with billionaire Michael Moritz in 2021. Ryan’s suit alleges that Gaffney then began making “highly inappropriate comments” to her, including some that were sexually explicit and belittling toward women. 

On Oct. 30, 2024, Gaffney allegedly messaged Ryan on Slack and suggested that he should “have an affair with the significant other” of one of the publication’s business partners, saying it “takes ‘a hot ass’ to close a deal” and that employees “should have gym memberships for this reason,” the complaint states. Ryan found these comments “shocking and unprofessional,” according to the complaint.

A similar scenario also allegedly occurred on Dec. 13, 2024, when the complaint says Gaffney referred to an album cover showing a “sexually explicit closeup of a male dancer’s backside” and suggested they “recreate” it and again said he should have an affair with that business partner’s significant other. 

Ryan also accused Gaffney of mocking women’s appearances and intelligence. According to the lawsuit, he texted Ryan about a woman he met at a work event in February 2025 saying she had “crazy eyes” and commented on her weight, saying he didn’t recognize her “because Ozempic. She’s 1/4th previous size.” 

Ryan said she felt there was a double standard at the workplace because Gaffney did not make degrading comments about men, which made her feel “upset and anxious.” 

According to the complaint, Ryan alleges that she was treated “much less favorably” than her male colleagues despite her proficient performance and was blamed for issues that weren’t in her control. When Ryan expressed in August that she believed she had observed a “double standard,” Gaffney became combative and accused her of poor performance, according to the lawsuit. 

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“He raised his voice, and his tone became markedly more aggressive during that conversation and subsequent communications with Ms. Ryan,” the complaint states. Gaffney then fired her approximately two business days later, according to the lawsuit. 

Ryan’s complaint alleged that the Standard was aware of the unfair treatment and Gaffney’s behavior, and lacked the proper human resources procedures to report the concerns. According to the lawsuit, Gaffney allegedly had “higher expectations” for women and did not hold male colleagues responsible for bad behavior or poor performance. 

Ryan is seeking damages in an amount that exceeds $35,000. 

In a statement to SFGATE Thursday morning, which was shared by Chelsea Kohler of Evergreen Strategy Group and attributed to the SF Standard, the company confirmed that Ryan was hired to lead subscription growth,which it described as falling “wellshort of the Company’s ambitions.” The statement continued, “Ms. Ryan acknowledged the shortfall at the time, and her complaint does not dispute it now. What she disputes is why her employment ended, and on that the allegations do not reflect the facts.” The statement asserted that “Gender played no role in the decision,” adding that the company would address Ryan’s claims through the legal process rather than the media. 

In a phone call, Julia Stephanides, one of Ryan’s attorneys, told SFGATE that the Standard had not responded to her or Emily McGrath, Ryan’s other attorney, regarding the allegations as of Wednesday afternoon. 

She called Gaffney’s alleged behavior “unacceptable” and said her team hopes to hold the company accountable. 

“We think it’s important especially when it’s someone like the CEO, they set the culture for the company,” Stephanides said.