After 13 board members threatened to resign over the organization’s handling of sexual harassment and hostile work environment allegations — while also facing a lawsuit by three employees, its former board president stepped down.Donald Luu stepped down as board president of the San Francisco Chi nese Chamber of Commerce last week, more than three weeks before his term was set to end, as NBC Bay Area reported. Luu said the claims against him were false and had become a distraction. He remains on the board, which voted Tuesday to postpone its annual elections until June 2027, effectively extending the terms of all current board members, including Luu, by another year.“I made the difficult decision to resign from my position as President of the Board of the San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce so that I could focus on my family,”  Luu said in a statement to NBC Bay Area, “and not allow an employee's false allegations against me to distract from the essential work of the chamber.”The employee at the center of the sexual harassment allegations, Judy Lee, alleges she endured years of unwelcome advances, retaliation, and a hostile work environment, and that the chamber failed to investigate her complaints. Luu has denied the allegations and filed a defamation lawsuit against Lee, claiming she violated a confidential settlement agreement after he agreed to pay her a substantial sum to avoid "imminent threat of reputational ruin." Lee's attorney, Kathleen Alparce, called the lawsuit an attempt to silence her client and said Lee is continuing to pursue her claims against the chamber.“Ms. Lee will fight every attempt made by those who choose to continue to try and silence her,” Alparce said, per the Chronicle. “Ms. Lee also refuses to capitulate to any threats or demands made by anyone in this regard. Ms. Lee is confident that the facts and evidence will rebut the verified claims made by Mr. Luu in his lawsuit.”According to NBC Bay Area, the organization is also facing a separate lawsuit filed by employees Lainar Chan, Mavis Ngo, and Christine Hui, who allege Lee secretly installed a hidden camera in the chamber's office, causing emotional distress. The lawsuit accuses the chamber of “failing to properly monitor, supervise, or control its employee, Judy Lee, allowing her to install an unauthorized recording device with potential audio and video capture capabilities in the workplace.”Lee, through Alparce, denied the allegations, saying chamber leadership chose to "villainize" her after she repeatedly reported a hostile work environment. Alparce declined to elaborate on the allegation because of the ongoing litigation.The Chronicle reports that Luu’s resignation came after 13 board members threatened to quit unless Luu was permanently removed from the board, while demanding that four chamber leaders also step down over the organization's handling of the allegations. In their letter, the board members warned the ongoing disputes could jeopardize the chamber's ability to stage the annual Chinese New Year Parade and accused Luu of putting his own interests ahead of the organization.Related:Image: San Francisco Chamber of Commerce/Facebook ...read more read less