Rivian hit with Gender Discrimination Lawsuit by ex-sales and marketing head, Laura Schwab

[photontorque]

Rivian --- oh, geez. The red flags are accumulating.

I was on the fence about the IPO, this latest news settles the situation. I'm not going to invest in a company that acts like this.

If they can meaningfully address this in the 12-??? months it takes to deliver the LE R1S I have on order then at least this won't prevent finalizing the order . . . but between communication problems, design problems, corporate culture problems . . . I dunno. The vehicles seem amazing, but amazing vehicles embedded in a bunch of disturbing swirl are losing their sheen.

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[slawwach]

Looks like she is out of Rivian.

 

[BrayBay]

In short term this looks optically bad for Rivian. If someone had filed complaint I would seriously think several times before firing or eliminating the position thru re-org.

One thing for sure, Rivian communication sucks and there is no transparency. Feel its due to the incompetence of the leader so its possible complaint may be true. Its pathetic to say, R1S will be delivered in December and we still don't know lot of interior details. Whether second row has sliding feature, entry/exit to 3rd row, is there storage in second row, speaker placements in R1S, no R1S prototypes at first mile events etc.

On the other hand, timing of the lawsuit raises lot of questions for me: Why the rush to sue days before the IPO? Is it to get media attention? Is it because Exec worked there for less than year and laid off before before the first year cliff and lost the opportunity to make millions.

Just to be clear, I understand the pain of the complainer. Once I did go thru something similar (racial + non Ivy league) discrimination at work, in my case I was promoted to "C" level few months before getting fired and was fired before bonus payouts and huge cliff vesting.

All I can hope is Rivian delivers our R1T/S s00n so we don't have to spend time reading/talking about Rivian internal issues.

Wow, that's a terrible experience to go through. Appreciate the perspective.

I agree, I hope we can just enjoy our cars and internal issues can be resolved professionally. I hate making this comparison, but the last thing I would want to see if Rivian being in the controversial spotlight like Tesla.

 

[3l3c7r1c]

Indeed. Which was 100% determined by the 30-something year old Chief Growth Officer who (based on LinkedIn profile) hasn’t been in this league of rodeo before.

In a case like this the hiring/firing manager better be damn sure that all legal ducks are in a row in anticipation of a potential law suit. If he pulled the trigger without extensive advanced legal consultation, this won’t go well for him.

The company on the other hand will likely endure. They can settle with a big fat check and barely dent the balance sheet. The long term hit to reputation could be bad though.

Yes, Rivian will endure. Now that it’s all over the media they might promise investigation and go thorough damage control - make some promises what changes they are going to make. A company in such a hiring spree, restructuring excuse doesn’t look logical. Even if you see some position need to be eliminated, you don’t do it on their 11th month. Restructuring bs can proved easily by number positions are eliminated as well.

 

[Andy96734]

And popped on Bloomberg with headline: Ex-Rivian Executive Sues Over ‘Toxic Bro Culture’ Ahead of IPO
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...lture-ahead-of-ipo?srnd=premium&sref=G60el7Wv

 

[State11]

For all the negative Rivian threads on this site, this is the first that is having me seriously cancel. It sounds to me that some unqualified bro got put in a position power over a super qualified female and did what you'd expect. Undermine her at every turn to keep her from making him look bad. And what kind of company puts some idiot like him in a position of power over a qualified person?

 

[Sully151]

So many of us have spent three years following Rivian. We have believed in the trucks, RJ, and their message. We believed that this was a company we could stand behind and be proud to represent when we drive our trucks.

Now, because one person is saying something, with no real proof aside from her word, days before the IPO, knowing Rivian can’t say anything, many of you are turning against Rivian.

Is there a chance she was fired because she sucked at her job and now she is trying to cash in?

 

[mike22co]

Does anyone else think this news makes the statement on "risks" in the S-1 page 28 stand out as a bit more creepy than it already was? That risk statement was:

​

We are highly dependent on the services and reputation of Robert J. Scaringe, our Founder and Chief Executive Officer. ​

We are highly dependent on the services and reputation of Robert J. Scaringe, our Founder and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Scaringe is a significant influence on and driver of our business plan. If Dr. Scaringe were to discontinue his service due to death, disability or any other reason, or if his reputation is adversely impacted by personal actions or omissions or other events within or outside his control, we would be significantly disadvantaged.​

I just felt like that paragraph in the S-1 stood out to me the first time I read it, now even more so.
From past experience, I've seen Founders/CEOs in these positions act and behave in ways that are, less than honorable. This might not have anything to do with RJ at all, but he is still the leader of the organization and bears some responsibility for what happens. I really wish I wasn't getting a bad vibe right now. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Rivian can't afford to be shielded by the quiet-period with regards to this, the IPO may need to be postponed in order to properly address this.

 

[State11]

So many of us have spent three years following Rivian. We have believed in the trucks, RJ, and their message. We believed that this was a company we could stand behind and be proud to represent when we drive our trucks.

Now, because one person is saying something, with no real proof aside from her word, days before the IPO, knowing Rivian can’t say anything, many of you are turning against Rivian.

Is there a chance she was fired because she sucked at her job and now she is trying to cash in?

Sure, just like there is a chance that you are some dude that doesn't like females. What I read from her seems pretty damning,. What I read from your reply......

Seriously, look at their Linkedin profiles. In what just world should she have been reporting to him vs him being lucky to report to her?

 

[Pherdnut]

So many of us have spent three years following Rivian. We have believed in the trucks, RJ, and their message. We believed that this was a company we could stand behind and be proud to represent when we drive our trucks.

Now, because one person is saying something, with no real proof aside from her word, days before the IPO, knowing Rivian can’t say anything, many of you are turning against Rivian.

Is there a chance she was fired because she sucked at her job and now she is trying to cash in?

This isn't some rando in middle management. Her hiring made big headlines last year and it couldn't have been easy to get her to leave Aston Martin. I'm somewhat blown away that the guy who was keeping her out of meetings wasn't reporting to her based on their LinkedIn profiles. She was at Land Rover for 15 years. She was a big deal at Aston Martin for 5.

This is an embarrassing waste of talent.

 

[Craigins]

Seriously, look at their Linkedin profiles. In what just world should she have been reporting to him vs him being lucky to report to her?

In a world where she voluntarily left her presidents job to work in the position that reported to him.

Really this new trend of guilty until proven innocent and trial by biased media is what makes me detest society.

I just want to buy my Rivian then move into the woods and get away from all the crazy.

So many people on these forums complained at how bad marketing and sales is at rivian and they should be fired, and now come to her defense when she gets fired. Insanity.

Ever think the reorg termination was a favor to her so that she didn't have performance based termination on her resume?

There are infinite ways things could have happened, and infinite ways she could respond to the situation. Her chosen path, to me, is the least respectable.

 

[Sully151]

Sure, just like there is a chance that you are some dude that doesn't like females. What I read from her seems pretty damning,. What I read from your reply......

Seriously, look at their Linkedin profiles. In what just world should she have been reporting to him vs him being lucky to report to her?

Give me 5 minutes and I could write something damning about you or anyone else on this site and still have time to make microwave popcorn. I don’t even know you or any of the other members.

Hell, I could write something damning about Ms. Schwab. I could say it’s all her fault that marketing and communication to Pre-order holders was so bad or any number of other things and I have no idea if that is true, but putting words to paper or fingers to keys isn’t all that hard.

That’s my point. Sometimes people lie. Sometimes they lie with purpose.

Sure, she has a great LinkedIn profile, but does that really mean much if she totally f’d up her job at Rivian?

Maybe she was fired, knew that she would have a hard time finding a new job in this market and decided to try and cash in. If she was male, she may have done the same thing with a different angle.

Why are you so willing to drop Rivian because of what Ms Schwab said without any investigation into finding the whole truth or even hearing the Rivian side of the story?

 

[Craigins]

Why are you so willing to drop Rivian because of what Ms Schwab said without any investigation into finding the whole truth or even hearing the Rivian side of the story?

Because the media has done a great job of training the masses to believe everything that they report. If you can call it reporting.

 

[hed]

Why are you so willing to drop Rivian because of what Ms Schwab said without any investigation into finding the whole truth or even hearing the Rivian side of the story?

Because the media has done a great job of training the masses to believe everything that they report. If you can call it reporting.

There are opinion pieces, misleading (out of context or leaving out facts) stories and just a recounting of known facts about something.

Is there anything that the "media" (across the political spectrum) reported about this story that isn't just a mere recounting of what's going on and being alleged?

If so, is that the majority of the media or just certain sites?

It's easy to feel like most everyone else is a sheep and the media is bad, but sometimes it's nice to hear specifics of how that applies, like to this story, as you seem to imply it does.

 

[dleewla]

I find this development disturbing on many levels. If Ms Schwab's claims are true then of course its utterly disturbing, she should be compensated and Rivian will suffer the consequences. If her claims are not true, then its equally disturbing that someone would go to those lengths to sabotage a company of thousands and their families.

What's also disturbing however is the reaction, assumptions and attacks people are making here on both sides. We don't know Ms Schwab, we don't know Jiten, we don't know the other execs or RJ. To assume who is or isn't qualified based on their LinkedIn profile is, to be frank, no less wrong than what may have happened to Ms Schwab at Rivian. We don't know what happened. We don't know the circumstances either way.

Let's hold off on judgement until Rivian responds and see what facts come out. And can we please stay away from speculation and assumption, as I see from just this thread it incites people and the attacks on character to Ms Schwab and Rivian is not helpful.

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