Police Documents Reveal Details Of Allegations Against Seagen Founder
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In addition to taking an indefinite leave of absence from all of his roles at Seagen, founder Clay Siegall faces another hurdle in the form of a temporary restraining order.
Court documents obtained by Endpoints News reveal a May 2-dated TRO pertaining to a fourth degree domestic violence gross misdemeanor charge.
The 58-page police record detailed the events of April 23, 2022, when the high-profile executive and his wife allegedly had a physical altercation after having dinner with friends.
According to the police report, a witness reportedly called the police after the incident, while his wife also called 911 after Siegall went to bed. At first, his wife asked the dispatcher to "erase the phone call" and told the police not to come, saying that he (Siegall) would kill her if he knew about the call. She also indicated that Siegall had recorded video of the incident.
Despite this seeming attempt to recant, police responded anyway. The officers arrested Siegall in his home and brought him to jail a few hours later. The founder reportedly denied the allegations and, as police logs showed, repeatedly called his wife while in prison, accusing her of possibly threatening his career. Siegall's wife reportedly said that he was "verbally abusive, aggressive and controlling."
"He treated me like a beautiful slave," she said in the petition in which she also reportedly alleges years of abuse.
On May 2, the local county court granted a TRO placing a 100-yard distance between Siegall and his wife, noting that "an emergency exists" to justify the order. The TRO remains in place until the hearing for the protection order petition happens in mid-May.
On May 9, Seagen's board of directors announced that Siegall would be taking a leave from all his positions in the company.
"We have high standards for employee conduct, we condemn domestic violence in all its forms, and we are treating these allegations with the utmost seriousness. At this time, the facts are still uncertain, and our decisions will be guided by the outcome of our investigation," Nancy Simonian, M.D., chair of the Seagen nominating and corporate governance committee said in a statement.
In the meantime, Roger Dansey, M.D., will assume the interim chief executive officer role. Dansey has served as chief medical officer at Seagen since 2018.
"Seagen is an extraordinary company, and I am deeply committed to continuing our standards of excellence in developing and commercializing transformative medicines. Our strong leadership team is dedicated to working with our exceptional employees around the globe on addressing the unmet needs of cancer patients," Dansey said.