Hyperloop One is owned by Tesla Motors’ (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk’s SpaceX scientific exploration company, and is aimed at developing a high-speed, futuristic product and passenger transportation system.
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In the suit, Bambrogan claims that after he and other employees sent the letter, Shervin’s brother Afshin Pishevar left a noose on BamBrogan’s desk.
The following day, two employees were fired, BamBrogan was put on a leave of absence, and CEO Rob Lloyd threatened the remaining employees who had signed the letter with “frivolous lawsuits” if they did not fall in line, according to the suit.
The central subject of BamBrogan’s suit is Shervin Pishevar, a co-founder of the firm and its executive chairman. These views are held widely across the company.
In addition to BamBrogan, the other plaintiffs in the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles superior court, are Knut Sauer, former vice-president of business development; David Pendergast, former assistant general counsel; and William Mulholland, vice-president of finance.
Hyperloop One co-founder Brogan BamBrogan and three other former employees at the startup say they were wrongfully terminated for speaking out about widespread mismanagement and poor behavior at the Los Angeles firm, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday. “Specifically he charges that Pishevar began dating the company’s (public relations) vendor and increased her salary to $40,000 a month that was more than any employee at the company”, Lipton said.
Defendant Joseph Lonsdale insisted that the company hire his little brother’s two-person outfit, with no notable experience with companies building hardware and engaged in infrastructure development, and few independent contacts with worldwide and top-tier investor funds, as the company’s exclusive investment bank, when far better partners were available.
“These nepotistic hires all quickly proved disastrous, and wasteful”, the suit continues. Shervin instituted a “pay-to-play” scenario by pressuring potential Hyperloop One investors to invest in Shervin’s own fund, Sherpa Capital, in order to gain access to direct investment in Hyperloop One.
Before the noose incident, some employees wrote a letter raising concerns about financial practices at the company. They also claimed Bambrogan would remain with the company. Pishevar, who’s listed as one of the defendants in the suit, previously told CNBC that Hyperloop has raised almost $100 million in funding. BamBrogan’s legal team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Pendergast was sacked in front of his wife and children “whom he had brought to the office out of fear for their safety after Afshin left the noose atBamBrogan’s desk”.
Shervin and Lonsdale also took steps to “ensure that they dominated control of the company”, and the two now retain roughly 78% of the shareholder voting rights, the suit claims. And Lonsdale is accused of forcing Hyperloop One to fund-raise through his brother’s company, a move that, plaintiffs say, damaged the company’s credibility and risked costing it investments potentially worth tens of millions of dollars.
Shervin Pishevar, who is well-known in Silicon Valley, was an early investor in Uber and hosted President Barack Obama at his home a year ago.
“Today’s lawsuit brought by former employees of Hyperloop One is unfortunate and delusional”, Hyperloop One’s Lawyer, Orin Snyder, said in a statement to Tech Insider.
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Here’s where we say that Hyperloop One is calling the suit “bogus” and a “preemptive strike” by employees who attempted to stage a coup and got found out.
