Former VP Sues Rivian Over 'Toxic Bro Culture' She Claims Led to Her Firing

[RV_]

Well I have a lot of thinking to do. I may save the portion I was going to invest in Rivian for Starlink, or not. This is a disappointment to say the least. And clearly a lack of judgment to do this on the eve of their IPO. Why hire qualified people just to ghost them?

Excerpt:

"Rivian's ex-Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Laura Schwab, took to Medium on Thursday to announce her abrupt departure from the company after raising internal concerns over the automaker's culture. The tightly curated company feel, which Rivian boasts about publicly, was nothing more than a "boys club," according to Schwab, which she says simply masks the true gender discrimination wound within it.

According to Schwab's allegations, Rivian is a company dominated by male figures in the highest positions--not exactly unusual in the auto industry--though she expected different. For context, she left her position at Aston Martin, where she was the first female president in the company's century-long history, to join Rivian.

Schwab was onboarded at Rivian in November 2020 as the VP of sales and marketing. At that time, she allegedly realized that the automaker lacked formal organization and supposedly didn't even have concrete plans on successfully launching its first 1,000 vehicles. The 20-year automotive industry veteran saw this as her chance to take on the challenge of building the company from the ground up. But instead, Schwab says she was left out of critical meetings that impacted both her team and the company mission.

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe was said to be at the center of the tight-knit "boys club." These employees reportedly had direct access to Scaringe and the potential to influence the direction of the company. To make matters more complicated, many of the employees had seemingly worked together before or hired one another, creating an even tighter-wound web that, in Schwab's words, "contributes to the company making mistakes."

Schwab felt that despite her industry experience, it was as if she hadn't earned a spot at the table. After being left out of discussions that were key to her role as VP of sales and marketing--including some regarding sales planning and volume--Schwab asked another female senior executive to be included. To her alleged surprise, the other VP was reportedly also excluded from the meetings, which were key to performing her duties as well.

Eventually, Schwab says she brought her concerns to the company's human resources department. She allegedly mentioned the various supposed instances of exclusion and marginalization from her boss, Rivian's Chief Growth Officer, who reportedly refused to schedule meetings with her, or would only communicate with her by instant messenger outside of business hours. She theorized that the company's "bro culture" was impacting female employees and even her female HR confidant expressed that the Chief Growth Officer had not been speaking to her either.

Two days after this meeting, Schwab claims to have had the first one-on-one convo with her boss in months where she was informed of her firing. It was supposedly part of a larger "reorganization"--however, Schwab claims that she was the only person being reorganized. Schwab has since published her account of the matter on Medium and announced that she filed a lawsuit against Rivian over gender discrimination on LinkedIn."

Source:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/enthusiasts/former-vp-sues-rivian-over-toxic-bro-culture-she-claims-led-to-her-firing/ar-AAQmRMC?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531

Edited November 5, 2021 by RV_

[NDBirdman]

Have to watch and see what happens.  Is she just a disgruntled employee mad because she did not get what *she* wanted, or did it actually happen?  It's too easy for one person to make false claims.  Perhaps this will drive the price down making it a steal to buy?  Without proof, I never believe what I hear/read.

[RV_]

1 hour ago, NDBirdman said:

Have to watch and see what happens.  Is she just a disgruntled employee mad because she did not get what *she* wanted, or did it actually happen?  It's too easy for one person to make false claims.  Perhaps this will drive the price down making it a steal to buy?  Without proof, I never believe what I hear/read.

I agree thus my statement of may or may not. As well they just had the battery module fire a couple of weeks ago without any assurances other than that it was a small fire and did not damage the factory.

Both may drive down the IPO which was slated to be at $55-$65 originally published as an estimate of their IPO opening price.

It will be an interesting show. 100% agree with you. But firing her just before IPO was poor judgment no matter how you slice it. They could have waited a week.

I am keeping my reservation because I can cancel it at any time.

However this is hard to ignore:

"she left her position at Aston Martin, where she was the first female president in the company's century-long history, to join Rivian." and this:

"The 20-year automotive industry veteran saw this as her chance to take on the challenge of building the company from the ground up."

20 Year very successful vet and president of Aston Martin?

I agree we WILL have to wait and see what happens.

Edited November 6, 2021 by RV_

[NDBirdman]

On 11/5/2021 at 8:26 PM, RV_ said:

20 Year very successful vet and president of Aston Martin?

I agree we WILL have to wait and see what happens.

I agree, more than likely has some merit but... and there's always a but...  we will have to wait to see what becomes of this.  I would not do an IPO but will wait and see where it bounces after a bit.  I'll patiently wait/see, got nuttin but time.

I'm still in the train of thought that something has to happen, maybe this year or spring, I think the bubble is going to pop, we are printing too many green-backs with nothing to back it.  Inflation is rising... it will hit a brick wall and bounce eventually, just where it bounces to.... time, time I have to wait....  Doubled $200 yesterday on a craps table, maybe I should.... naaaa, joking, once every few blue moons is fun but would never finance a new motor-home... LOL

Edited November 8, 2021 by NDBirdman

[Kirk W]

EV start-up Rivian is valued at $86 billion after market debut, higher than Ford

[podwerkz]

Going to work for a testosterone-infused truck maker and then complaining and suing because, it's a testosterone-infused workplace.

Kinda like buying a house near the airport and then complaining about the aircraft noise.

 

 

 

Edited November 13, 2021 by podwerkz

[Barbaraok]

How sad that one can not see the difference between hostile workplace treatment of another human being and the fussing of people who buy a house next to an existing airport.  

[ARGO]

16 hours ago, Barbaraok said:

How sad that one can not see the difference between hostile workplace treatment of another human being and the fussing of people who buy a house next to an existing airport.  

I DID buy such a house, near Martin Airport in MD. Air NG flies A-10's out of there, and I'd have no bitch except for their unnecessary antics. 

Now, about 10 yrs ago the F117 Stealth fell 297' ( That's FEET) from my house and we don't forget something like that. So take off & don't stand it on it's ass right over my house, just GO AWAY first. "Theoretical glide path of a stone" comes into play here. With airports, things once taken for granted can change, like the flight paths near BWI driving people nuts.

Thanks, I feel better