A high-flying Wall Street trader allegedly made his personal assistant plan, oversee and tidy up after debauched sex parties at his $21 million Manhattan townhouse, where she claims MDMA and ketamine flowed freely as her boss and his guests cavorted with “women in varied stages of undress,” according to an eye-popping lawsuit obtained by The Independent.
When she took the job last spring, Janelli Saavedra quickly became aware of Bluefin Capital Management founder Michael J. Goodwin’s “propensity to host sexual gatherings, otherwise referred to as an ‘orgy,’” her complaint contends.
Saavedra, 35, “not only observed sexually explicit behavior at various times but was also charged with managing the cleanup of these gatherings, which included the collection of personal items guests left behind, and the coordination of the professional cleanup of the couches used, which contained stains and odors,” according to the complaint.
It says Goodwin, a 60-year-old father of four, and devoted student of Zen Buddhist philosophy, tasked Saavedra with sourcing drug paraphernalia for the wild bacchanals, further instructing her to ensure that all of his events were stocked entirely with “hot young 30-year-olds,” the complaint goes on.
Not only did this leave Saavedra feeling “extremely humiliated, degraded, victimized, embarrassed and emotionally distressed,” according to the complaint. It also accuses Goodwin of shorting her pay by thousands of dollars, and unceremoniously firing her when she pushed back.
Reached by phone on Wednesday, Saavedra, who is now working as a realtor, told The Independent that she needed to meet with her attorney before speaking on the record. Goodwin did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
A 1987 graduate of Western Michigan University, Goodwin worked as a CPA at the Chicago office of Arthur Andersen before launching his trading career in the early 1990s. Following a stint at the Susquehanna Investment Group, Goodwin moved to New York City, where he ran derivatives trading desks for Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank. In 2001, Goodwin launched Bluefin, which now boasts more than 100 employees across three continents.
Goodwin has “long been interested in Eastern philosophy and ancient wisdom and healing modalities,” according to his bio at the nonprofit New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, where he teaches when he’s not trading securities. It says he “enjoys studying Buddhist philosophy and practices several kinds of meditation, with Vipassana as the cornerstone,” and has advised “numerous local charitable organizations with a focus on achieving sustainable operations.”
Goodwin also has a charitable streak – The Michael Goodwin Scholarship and Financial Assistance Fund provides selected honors students attending his alma mater with tuition assistance and additional financial support for medical bills, transportation and other unforeseen expenses.
Saavedra was hired by Goodwin on March 6, 2025, bringing her on as his personal assistant, according to her complaint, which was filed Tuesday in New York State Supreme Court. It says Saavedra was classified as an independent contractor, and agreed to a flat rate of $250 for five daily hours of work.
Soon, Goodwin proposed Saavedra accept a full-time position, for $75 an hour, with the added responsibility of “house manager,” the complaint continues. This meant juggling “various duties related to household management, such as vendor and contractor coordination, and event planning and logistics (e.g., dinner parties, security and hospitality),” according to the complaint. Still, the arrangement remained casual, with Goodwin paying Saavedra from his personal account via bank transfer.
On March 15, Goodwin directed Saavedra to help arrange his birthday celebration at his lavish Greenwich Village home, involving her in “extremely uncomfortable conversations regarding the sexually explicit nature of this party” between Goodwin, an event planner, and a group of Goodwin’s friends that the complaint describes as “sexist and misogynistic.”
The party took place the following night, and extended well into the wee hours of the next morning, according to the complaint. It claims the guests whetted their appetites with plenty of drugs, and ramped things up considerably once they were fully lubricated, the complaint says. At around 4 a.m., Saavedra “observed adult guests, male and females, starting to remove their clothing and engage in sexual activities,” the complaint states, noting that she watched women “in varied states of undress” draping themselves over Goodwin and “engaging in sexual activity.”
Things took another strange turn when Saavedra found herself consoling the “distressed party planner,” who revealed she had previously been in a romantic relationship with Goodwin, according to the complaint.
In early April, Goodwin replaced his ex with a live-in event planner, telling Saavedra, “[K]now that she speaks for me,” the complaint states.
“Thereafter, [Saavedra] was subjected to conversations about the household’s use of psychedelics as therapy, specifically ketamine,” the complaint alleges. “[Saavedra] was instructed to maintain household cleanliness standards and put away a sex card game frequently used by [Goodwin].”
The live-in event planner also told Saavedra that Goodwin wished to be in “the presence of only hot young 30-year-olds, when [she] presented social club options” that Goodwin had requested, according to the complaint.
Amid it all, Saavedra “became increasingly uncomfortable with the working arrangement,” the complaint states.
In mid-May, Goodwin finally offered to formalize Saavedra’s position, but said nothing about adjusting her salary, according to the complaint. So, it says, when Saavedra declined the offer, Goodwin abruptly fired her and “willfully withheld” her final paycheck, for $6,225.
“As a result of the acts and conduct complained of herein, [Saavedra] has suffered and will continue to suffer the loss of income the loss of salary, bonuses, benefits and other compensation which such employment entails,” on top of the psychic pain she claims to have experienced from being continually “exposed to sexually explicit behaviors and materials,” the complaint says.
Saavedra is now seeking civil, liquidated, compensatory, statutory and punitive damages to be determined by a jury, as well as a judgment declaring Goodwin in violation of New York State labor laws and a restraining order prohibiting him from retaliating against her for suing, plus attorneys’ fees and court costs.
Goodwin now has roughly three weeks to file a response to Saavedra’s allegations.
