Steve Bannon left Biosphere 2 after two years, but his departure was marked by an "abuse of process" civil lawsuit filed against Space Biosphere Ventures by the former crew members who had broken in.[70] Leading managers of Biosphere 2 from the original founding group stated both abusive behaviour by Bannon and others, and that the bankers’ actual goal was to destroy the experiment.[71] During a 1996 trial, Bannon testified that he had called one of the plaintiffs, Abigail Alling, a "self-centered, deluded young woman" and a "bimbo".[72] He also testified that when the woman submitted a five-page complaint outlining safety problems at the site, he promised to shove the complaint "down her throat". Bannon attributed this to "hard feelings and broken dreams."[73] At the end of the trial, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and ordered Space Biosphere Ventures to pay them $600,000, but also ordered the plaintiffs to pay the company $40,089 for the damage they had caused.[66]