Photo: Kevin Krejci on Flickr
We always thought it was quite exciting to watch the race to build the first successful Hyperloop route, but it looks like things might now take a turn for the tabloid as an almost unbelievable lawsuit with charges that go as far as a death threat.
The defendants, as revealed by CNBC, are none other than Chairman Shervin Pishevar, CEO Robert Lloyd, board member and investor Hoe Lonsdale, and General Counsel Afshin Pishevar. They are accused of numerous instances of cronyism, nepotism, and, as mentioned before, a death threat.
The lawsuit is filed by three plaintiffs who work or have worked at some point for Hyperloop One. The most important voice among them is co-founder and CTO Brogan Bambrogan, the company's former Assistant General Counsel David Pendergast, and former Vice President of Finance William Mulholland.
The main complaints raised by Mr. Bambrogan, who was leading the engineering team, are related to the mismanagement of the startup. These missteps ranged from appointing underqualified friends or family members on important positions to wasting the engineer's time for giving tours to celebrities or Mr. Pishevar's friends. While the former bears no excuse, the latter can be explained by Hyperloop One's funding method which relied heavily on outside investors.
More to the point, the plaintiffs identify the hiring of Chairman Shervin Pishevar's brother, Afshin, as General Counsel, a position his experience as a personal injury lawyer in Maryland did not qualify him for. Even more obscene was the doubling of the contract value the PR firm Hyperloop used after Shervin Pishevar started dating its representative. To make matters even more transparent, the contract was terminated once the two broke up.
But the most scandalous has to be the accusation of making a death threat. It is aimed at Afshin Pishevar who could be seen on security camera footage laying a noose on Bambrogan's chair. The threat came after the engineer had signed a letter on behalf of the engineering team complaining about the management decision, something that somewhat transpired during a meeting with foreign investors.
There is very little chance all this commotion will not affect the company's progress, which is really a shame considering it looked as if it was maybe in the leading position compared to the other competitors. But these are some very serious allegations and the definitely need to be investigated, and we doubt that the people who invested in this startup will settle for anything less.
The lawsuit is filed by three plaintiffs who work or have worked at some point for Hyperloop One. The most important voice among them is co-founder and CTO Brogan Bambrogan, the company's former Assistant General Counsel David Pendergast, and former Vice President of Finance William Mulholland.
The main complaints raised by Mr. Bambrogan, who was leading the engineering team, are related to the mismanagement of the startup. These missteps ranged from appointing underqualified friends or family members on important positions to wasting the engineer's time for giving tours to celebrities or Mr. Pishevar's friends. While the former bears no excuse, the latter can be explained by Hyperloop One's funding method which relied heavily on outside investors.
More to the point, the plaintiffs identify the hiring of Chairman Shervin Pishevar's brother, Afshin, as General Counsel, a position his experience as a personal injury lawyer in Maryland did not qualify him for. Even more obscene was the doubling of the contract value the PR firm Hyperloop used after Shervin Pishevar started dating its representative. To make matters even more transparent, the contract was terminated once the two broke up.
But the most scandalous has to be the accusation of making a death threat. It is aimed at Afshin Pishevar who could be seen on security camera footage laying a noose on Bambrogan's chair. The threat came after the engineer had signed a letter on behalf of the engineering team complaining about the management decision, something that somewhat transpired during a meeting with foreign investors.
There is very little chance all this commotion will not affect the company's progress, which is really a shame considering it looked as if it was maybe in the leading position compared to the other competitors. But these are some very serious allegations and the definitely need to be investigated, and we doubt that the people who invested in this startup will settle for anything less.
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