A Carta exec's resignation letter accused the CEO of sexism. She says she didn't write it.

Over the past five years, Carta has faced a string of gender discrimination complaints, departures of high-level female employees, and lawsuits with its former CTO Jerry Talton in the Southern District of New York.

Now, a resignation letter from Gurpreet "Preeti" Kaur, a former female Carta executive, has been made public in court — and in it, she said CEO Henry Ward spoke to her "with a disdain he would not show to my male peers" and has a "pattern of humiliating certain women."

Kaur has disavowed the email entirely to Business Insider, with both herself and Carta saying it was written by Talton's lawyers when she was in an "emotional" state. Talton, in turn, alleged in court that Carta "worked hard" to get Kaur to rescind it.

Kaur, who worked as Carta's vice president of Engineering from 2018 to 2022, sent the letter in October 2022. It was unsealed on May 1 of this year as part of the ongoing legal battle between Carta and Talton, who accused Carta of whistleblower retaliation and defamation.

Kaur emailed the detailed, two-page letter to Carta's CEO, general counsel, chief people officer, and Talton himself. In the letter, Kaur alleged that Ward made her feel "vulnerable and smaller" at a dinner with him, ignored a potential promotion, and used the word "ceremonial" to describe part of her role.

The October 2022 letter was part of evidence for Talton's claims that Carta had a culture of gender discrimination. Kaur told BI that while the dinner with Ward did happen, she misperceived Ward's comments. She praised Ward's leadership and her time at Carta.

"I just wanted to clarify, I was emotional and there was a lot going on at the company with exec turnover and whatnot," Kaur said, adding, "Misunderstandings happen."

Carta, which encouraged BI to speak with Kaur, said in a statement, "Ms. Kaur was initially persuaded by Talton to send the resignation letter during a time she testified was 'emotional and difficult.'"

"Talton's attempt to connect her resignation with his termination to draw conclusions about culture at Carta is a gross distortion of the facts," Carta added.

Talton declined to comment.

Carta, a startup that helps companies manage employee equity and shares, has raised more than $1 billion from Silicon Valley VCs such as Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Over the years, it has faced numerous complaints and lawsuits, many of which focused on CEO Ward and his conduct.

'A pattern of humiliating certain women'

Kaur's letter attributes her resignation to a humiliating dinner with Ward in October 2022, during which he made comments that "convinced" her she could no longer stay.

Kaur loved working at Carta and admired Ward, the email says. She wanted to help the company during a turbulent period marked by economic uncertainty, the departure of chief product officer Heidi Johnson, and its CTO, Talton, being placed on leave. A few months later, Carta sued Talton and accused him of secretly recording meetings, sparking the current legal battle.

The email says Ward made Kaur feel "vulnerable and smaller," and he showed no interest in her contributions or ideas and sidestepped a conversation about promoting her to senior vice president. Instead, per the email, Ward called her an already "ceremonial" SVP, a comment she found "shocking" since someone else at Carta had received that exact promotion.

The email also said Ward asked her whether her coworkers were "any good" and repeatedly asked what Talton would say about them, instead of seeking her opinions.

"Talking to me as if I am a poor substitute for a man he has put on leave is not appropriate," the email says.

Ward's questions made her "extremely uncomfortable," Kaur says in the email. The dinner became such a "cross-examination" that waiters kept returning to check on her because she hadn't touched her food, the email says.

Kaur also said Ward accused Johnson and Talton of being "disloyal" and predicted they would bring Carta's internal problems to The New York Times, which had profiled Carta's issues in a 2020 investigation.

In her view, the dinner conversation showed Ward had a "pattern of humiliating certain women."

"Now I cannot see a future here any longer, so I must resign," the email ends.

Legal battles at Carta

In counterclaims in the Southern District of New York court, Talton alleged that Carta pressured Kaur to rescind the email, writing that CEO Ward and Carta's then-Chief People Officer Paige Bailey "worked hard to get Kaur to rescind it, even going so far as to draft an 'apology' email for her."

Carta denied that, telling BI in a statement that it has "already denied that self-serving characterization" from Talton in court. Carta and Ward also denied Talton's counterclaims in a legal filing in April.

In 2023, BI reported that Kaur was one of three top executives at Carta who had internally filed gender discrimination complaints. At the time, Kaur also denied her departure was due to such issues.

That same year, the company settled a lawsuit brought by former vice president of marketing Emily Kramer alleging gender discrimination and illegal retaliation. Johnson submitted a gender discrimination complaint to Carta's board, and Carta sued her to prevent the release of damaging records in a case that was also settled.

Earlier this year, Carta settled a sexual harassment case filed by a female ex-sales manager against its chief revenue officer Jeff Perry, who strongly denied any wrongdoing.

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