RadiumOne Fires CEO After Battery and Domestic-Violence Conviction

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Gurbaksh Chahal, founder and former CEO of RadiumOne, attends the Fox Fall Eco-Casino party at The London West Hollywood hotel on September 8, 2008 in West Hollywood, California.

Image: Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Fox

By Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai2014-04-27 19:28:24 UTC

Advertising startup RadiumOne fired its CEO, founder and chairman Gurbaksh Chahal on Saturday night, two weeks after Chahal pleaded guilty to battery and domestic-violence charges for assaulting his girlfriend.

The company's board of directors announced the firing on Sunday, after news of the dismissal was first reported by Recode . RadiumOne faced pressure to take action after Chahal pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors on April 17.

See also: Disturbing Video Uses Google Glass to Make a Point About Domestic Violence

RadiumOne issued a statement on Sunday, without mentioning the reason behind the firing. However, sources told Recode that it was due to Chahal's battery and domestic-violence conviction earlier this month.

In a blog post published earlier on Sunday, entitled "Can you handle the truth?" Chahal defended himself, saying he did not beat up his girlfriend on Aug. 5, 2013. Chahal claimed he lost his temper that day after discovering that she was having "unprotected sex for money with other people," after which he confronted her. The RadiumOne founder added that they simply had "a normal argument."

After the incident, Chahal faced 45 felony charges for allegedly hitting and kicking his girlfriend 117 times over a 30-minute period. But most of the charges were dropped after a video, allegedly showing him assaulting his girlfriend, was deemed inadmissible by the judge because it was illegally taken from his apartment. The video, taken by one of Chahal's home security cameras, has not been publicly released.

For the terms of his plea deal, Chahal avoided jail time, but was put on three years probation. He will also have to undergo a 52-week domestic-violence training program, and perform 25 hours of community service, San Francisco Business Times reported.

RadiumOne announced that Bill Lonergan, the company's chief operating officer, will take over Chahal's spot as CEO. Chahal, however, still has a large stake in the company, and could possibly mount a legal challenge over his firing, according to Recode.

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Topics: Advertising, Business, domestic violence, radiumone, Startups, U.S.