Rivian’s Former Vice President Suing Company, Cites “Toxic Bro Culture”

As the EV manufacturer prepares to go public, this accusation is made.

Laura Schwab, now the former vice president of sales & marketing at electric vehicle startup Rivian has filed suit against her employer, alleging that she was subject to a toxic culture and “boy’s club mentality.” Schwab wrote in Medium about the culture at her company where she and other female executives were excluded from key decision-making decisions that were within their responsibility. Schwab wrote that “exclusion became a habit” and she was not allowed to attend many meetings in which my business and role required me to be present. “Finally, she asked another female senior executive to include me in meetings about sales planning and volume, which were crucial to my work leading the marketing and sales organization. “I was shocked when she told me she was excluded also from these meetings. These were crucial to her role.” Emphasis Schwab. Schwab in 2017, as president of Aston Martin The Americas.

Motor1.com reached to Rivian to discuss Schwab’s claims, but a company spokesperson declined comment citing a mandatory silence period prior to the company’s IPO. According to Schwab’s Medium post (paywalled), Schwab’s concerns ranged from vehicle quality and manufacturing deadlines to pricing issues. Before joining Rivian, the exec had been president of Aston Martin Americas for five years and at Jaguar Land Rover for 14 years. She claims that she raised these concerns with the company’s leadership, but was ignored. The Chief Commercial Officer responded to male colleagues who raised similar concerns. He was not named in the Medium post nor the WSJ.

Schwab met with a human resource representative two days later to discuss the exclusion cases. She was then invited to meet the CCO and the HR rep. Schwab was informed that the company was restructuring her job and she was being fired. Despite a positive performance review, this was not the case. Schwab’s position was the last to be terminated by the company as part of the reorganization. According to the WSJ Schwab’s suit comes at a time when Rivian is preparing for their initial public offering. The company seeks a valuation of $60 billion and the IPO will take place next week.