As reported by Jenna Greene in The Litigation Daily from The American Lawyer

In a 2016 story, Vanity Fair called it “the $40 million sexual assault case rocking Silicon Valley.”

Both sides say Goguen agreed to pay her $40 million but only gave her $10 million. In a graphic and sensational complaint, Baptiste sued him for breach of contract in California’s San Mateo County Superior Court in 2016.

Michael Goguen (above), then a partner at storied venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, was sued by Amber Laurel Baptiste, who alleged that he abused her “sexually, physically, and emotionally for 13 years,” raped her repeatedly, infected her with HPV, or human papillomavirus, and allegedly sodomized her and left her bleeding and nearly hemorrhaging to death on the floor of a hotel room.

On Wednesday, the court issued terminating sanctions, dismissing the case against Goguen, who is represented by Diane Doolittle and Bruce Van Dalsem of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.



In a 33-page order, discovery referee Read Ambler, a retired Santa Clara County Superior Court judge turned JAMS neutral, never addressed the underlying merits of the dispute. But he methodically detailed repeated instances where Baptiste damned her complaint by failing to comply with discovery orders.

“The record presented further establishes that Baptiste’s’ failures were willful,” Ambler wrote. “Baptiste appears to believe that the information responsive to the discovery at issue is either not relevant, or with respect to the medical examinations, not permitted by law. While Baptiste is free to believe what she wants to believe, the orders are binding on Baptiste, and her failure to comply with the orders is unacceptable.”

Baptiste, who has been through four sets of lawyers, is currently pro per. She did not respond to an email message seeking comment.

In an interview, Doolittle, who co-heads Quinn Emanuel’s national trial practice group, cast Baptiste as spurned lover seeking revenge. “It was only when [Goguen] refused to leave his wife and marry her that she turned on him,” she said.

Doolittle said that while her client (before she represented him) did agree to pay Baptiste $40 million, she argues the agreement was the result of extortion—that Baptiste threatened to go public with horrific allegations unless Goguen paid her hush money.

And indeed, after Baptiste filed her suit, Goguen (who now lives in Montana) lost his job as managing partner at Sequoia.

Goguen subsequently filed a counter-suit against Baptiste alleging extortion, fraudulent inducement, invasion of privacy and related claims. The suit remains pending in San Mateo County Superior Court.

Despite initiating the case, Baptiste proved unwilling to comply with discovery orders.

She was first represented by lawyers from Glaser Weil Fink Howard Avchen & Shapiro. They were soon replaced by the Law Offices of Bishar Chase. Four months later, the Sherman Law Group substituted into the case in January of 2017, lasting until May of 2018. They were replaced by Paoli & Purdy, who asked to step down in December of 2018.

A key turning point came in August of 2017, when Baptiste fractured her elbow. The alleged injury occurred when she fell out of bed due to night terrors, according to her lawyer at the time, Richard Sherman. As a result, Sherman said she could not appear for her scheduled deposition.

“Goguen’s counsel found Baptiste’s claimed injury questionable, given that she elected to participate in third-party deposition the very day she suffered her injury,” Ambler wrote. Still, the parties agreed to move her deposition back a month—but also asked for medical records to corroborate the injury.

The rescheduled deposition didn’t happen—Baptiste was still having arm problems, her lawyers said. Months went by—still no deposition. Also no medical records. The judge said they have yet to be produced.

Baptiste did sit for a partial deposition in April of 2018, but said she couldn’t make responsive materials from her storage unit available because of her elbow injury. Then she said the documents were lost or unintentionally discarded.

The defense also unsuccessfully sought original documents from a doctor in France whom Baptiste said treated her after Goguen allegedly sodomized her.

There were more scheduled depositions and hearings, and more no-shows by Baptiste. And then came an extraordinary declaration by her lawyer William Paoliin late 2018.

“In spite of my efforts, I have been unable to secure the assistance of Ms. Baptiste in engaging in discovery, prosecution, and/or defense of this and the other litigations she is party to,” he said. “I believe it is due to what I had just learned about her inability to tolerate pain and use/dependency of prescribed narcotic medications from her physicians… I realized the extent of her dependency on narcotic medications and its effect on her ability to engage in the litigation process.”

Notably, the declaration came shortly after the Quinn Emanuel team filed its first motion for terminating sanctions—which require violations to be willful. If the misconduct is the result of an addiction to narcotics…well…presumably it’s not.

Baptiste’s orthopedic surgeon backed up the addiction claim. “As result of her dependency on narcotic medication, subjecting Ms. Baptiste to oral or written litigation discovery would be the equivalent of expecting an individual who would be legally intoxicated on alcohol to respond in coherent manner to question presented to her,” he said.

The Quinn Emanuel team cried foul, arguing that it takes a forensic psychiatric evaluation to determine competency—not an orthopedic surgeon.

Still, the court denied the first request for terminating sanctions, directing Baptiste “to meaningfully address her medical issues so as to allow her to take the actions necessary to participate fully in this litigation.”

She didn’t.

The court then granted Goguen’s request for independent orthopedic and mental examinations, plus a drug screening test. “Over the last two years in this litigation, Baptiste has firmly placed her mental and physical condition in controversy in the action. While this case does not fit the typical situation in which an examination is required, there can be no doubt that Baptiste’s has put her injuries and mental condition at issue in this lawsuit” the discovery referee found.

Baptiste refused. “A Writ of mandamus will be filed because there is no law that permits for the defendant to extract bodily fluids and my very DNA or examine my body parts that are not even part of the breach of contract,” she wrote in a rambling response. “I have been ill for very long time and medical treatment had been delayed because of the harassment of your firm and all other people hired by the man who raped me to harass me follow me, break onto peoples properties, harassment elderly people, harassment and instilling fear into Young mothers with small children and cancer patients.”

She didn’t show up for the court-ordered exams—though as Ambler noted, she continues on Twitter to accuse Goguen of being a “serial rapist,” “pedophile,” “known sex offender” and “human trafficker.”

Here’s what’s still not clear: Was Baptiste’s non-compliance with the medical exams (and discovery in general) a subterfuge to avoid responsibility? Or exactly what you might expect from a traumatized person with legitimate mental health issues?

Either way, Ambler had enough.

“The referee has given Baptiste numerous opportunities, despite her failures to comply with the orders, to rectify her failures to provide discovery or to establish her inability to proceed with the litigation,” he wrote in issuing terminating sanctions. “Unfortunately, Baptiste has done neither, and the record presented does not support conclusion that Baptiste will do so in the future.”

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