A former Rivian executive sues the automaker for gender discrimination
Electric transportation startup Rivian has actually been taken legal action against by one of its former workers. Per The Wall Street Journal, Laura Schwab, an executive who was a vice president of sales and marketing at the automaker until last month, submitted a gender discrimination problem with the California Superior Court in Orange County on Thursday. In the suit, Schwab alleges she was fired by Rivian after she complained of a “hazardous ‘bro culture'” that saw other executives omit her from meetings and overlook her guidance.
“The culture at Rivian was actually the worst I’ve experienced in over 20 years in the automotive market,” Schwab informed The Journal. A veteran of the automotive industry, Schwab held executive posts at Aston Martin Lagonda and Jaguar Land Rover prior to she signed up with Rivian in November 2020.
The suit comes ahead of Rivian’s planned IPO next week where the business will look for to raise as much as $9.6 billion in additional investment. It likewise just recently began producing R1T trucks for customers. More broadly, the fit comes as a number of other companies in the tech area face scrutiny over their gender equality practices. Most significantly, there’s Activision Blizzard, which was taken legal action against by California’s fair work regulator in July for promoting what it explained as a sexist “frat kid” workplace culture. The fallout from that claim has actually been far-reaching. Following months of pressure from workers, the business ended its policy of forced arbitration in cases including unwanted sexual advances and discrimination and put in place a zero-tolerance stance toward harassment.
According to the outlet, Schwab tried to push the business to address many issues while she was there. In one circumstances, she supposedly attempted to inform the other executives on Rivian’s leadership group that the business had actually underpriced its vehicles. More broadly, the fit comes as several other companies in the tech space face analysis over their gender equality practices. All products advised by Engadget are chosen by our editorial group, independent of our parent company.
According to the outlet, Schwab attempted to press the business to address many issues while she was there. In one circumstances, she allegedly tried to inform the other executives on Rivian’s management team that the business had actually underpriced its cars. In yet another scenario, she tried to raise issues about the quality of the automaker’s production process. In the former case, the business supposedly initially dismissed her guidance just to later follow through on it after a male executive raised the same problem.
Pointing out the quiet period ahead of its IPO, Rivian declined to discuss the complaint.
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