County prosecutors in California dropped a felony rape case Tuesday against Dan Price, a Seattle executive, court records show. He became a progressive social media influencer after raising the minimum pay at his company.
A grand jury in Riverside County, Calif., indicted Mr. Price in September on charges of rape of an unconscious victim.
The case involved a 2021 incident when Mr. Price went to Palm Springs, Calif., with a woman he was dating. The woman, Kacie Margis, said Mr. Price raped her at the Ace Hotel after she had said she did not want to have sex. She fled the hotel and reported the episode to the police the next day.
Ms. Margis went public with her story in 2022 as part of a New York Times investigation that found that Mr. Price had used his fame to enable a pattern of abuse in his personal life and hostile behavior at his company. Mr. Price denied the claims in The Times article, which was based on documents, police reports and interviews with more than 50 people.
Mr. Price, 41, maintained his innocence after the indictment was unsealed, though he did not enter a formal plea in court because his arraignment was delayed multiple times, the docket shows. He hired Vicki Podberesky, a criminal defense lawyer who had represented the Church of Scientology in matters related to rape charges against the actor Danny Masterson of “That ’70s Show.” Mr. Price also moved to have the grand jury testimony sealed.
“There was not a shred of credible evidence that Dan did anything wrong, and the dismissal of these charges was the only just result,” Ms. Podberesky said in a statement.
In a statement provided by his lawyer, Mr. Price said, “I have never physically or sexually abused anyone.” He added, “Now that this chapter is behind me, I am redoubling my efforts to serve Gravity Payments, the other companies I’m involved with, and my community.”
Ms. Margis told The Times that the Riverside Country district attorney’s office informed her it had dropped the case because it was too much of a “he said, she said” situation that would be difficult to prosecute.
The district attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ms. Margis said she provided the prosecutors a victim impact statement, which she shared with The Times. She wrote that the experience was traumatic but she had been optimistic about testifying before the grand jury. “After hearing from me, hotel staff, law enforcement, and a witness, they voted to indict,” she wrote. “They saw that there was enough evidence to go to trial. They believed me.”
Mr. Price garnered international attention in 2015 when he raised the pay of his employees at Gravity Payments, his company that processes credit card transactions, to a minimum of $70,000. Immediately before The Times article was published, Mr. Price stepped down as chief executive. A year ago, he said in a social media post that he was returning to the company in an advisory role.
His profile grew through his regular posts on social media about inequality. Ms. Margis met Mr. Price through Instagram, where she had liked one of his posts.
In her statement, Ms. Margis referenced his social media content that first drew her in. She said Mr. Price played “the part of a progressive ally while using and discarding people like they’re disposable.”
Karen Weise writes about technology for The Times and is based in Seattle. Her coverage focuses on Amazon and Microsoft, two of the most powerful companies in America.
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