Rivian EV Pickup Truck.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
A former feminine government at Rivian is accusing the electrical automobile start-up of firing her for elevating considerations in regards to the firm having a “poisonous bro tradition.”
In a Medium post published Thursday afternoon, Laura Schwab, who joined Rivian late final yr from Aston Martin, describes the corporate as a “boys membership” during which feminine executives comparable to herself have been omitted of essential conferences and marginalized.
“Rivian publicly boasts about its tradition, so it was a crushing blow once I joined the corporate and virtually instantly skilled a poisonous bro tradition that marginalizes ladies and contributes to the corporate making errors,” she mentioned. “I raised considerations to HR in regards to the gender discrimination from my supervisor, the ‘boys membership’ tradition, and the impression it was having on me, my staff, and the corporate. Two days later, my boss fired me.”
Rivian spokeswoman Amy Mast on Thursday declined to touch upon Schwab’s publish and the allegations. She cited restrictions of the corporate’s quiet interval as a part of its IPO, which it filed for in August. The corporate is anticipated to checklist on the Nasdaq as early as next week.
In a publish on LinkedIn, Schwab additionally says that she has filed a lawsuit in opposition to Rivian for gender discrimination and retaliation.
Schwab, who beforehand served as Aston Martin’s American division president, was employed final November as Rivian’s first vice chairman of gross sales and advertising and marketing. She was a high-profile addition for the corporate following a 20-year profession with the famed British luxurious model in addition to Jaguar Land Rover.
Schwab’s publish is named “Life Outdoors the Boys Membership: Why I Spoke Up About Rivian’s Poisonous Bro Tradition (and Obtained Fired).” In it, Schwab says she was “excited” to hitch Rivian, however that pleasure shortly turned to emotions of marginalization following an alleged sample of exclusion among the many firm’s prime male executives.
“Regardless of my 20 years of auto expertise, and my place as VP of Gross sales and Advertising and marketing, I used to be excluded from essential conferences that impacted our mission and my staff,” Schwab wrote. “Time and time once more, I raised considerations concerning automobile pricing and manufacturing deadlines, however nobody listened, despite the fact that I’ve in depth expertise launching and pricing autos. It wasn’t till my (usually much less skilled) male colleagues raised the very same concepts that the Chief Business Officer would reply. By no means in my years within the auto business had I skilled such blatant marginalization.”
It wasn’t instantly clear who serves as Rivian’s chief business officer, who Schwab says she reported to and was fired by. The corporate doesn’t checklist such a place on its web site or in its IPO registration kind.
Schwab alleges her boss mentioned the reasoning for her firing was a “bigger ‘reorganization.'” Schwab argues she was the one particular person “reorganized” although.
“I identified that there was no coincidence in my firing and my elevating considerations of bro tradition and gender discrimination simply two days earlier,” she mentioned. “The very particular person I had flagged as selling the discriminatory tradition was the one that terminated me.”
CNBC reached out to Schwab, who didn’t instantly reply for remark.
