Claiming that BamBrogan’s wrongful termination lawsuit and the allegations made within it were a malicious attempt to ruin the company’s reputation, Hyperloop One filed a $250 million countersuit in the Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County. The company claims that former CTO Brogan BamBrogan was part of a group of four company employees that engaged in both improper conduct and abusive behavior. Hyperloop One is a transportation startup involved in developing a high-speed shuttle. The countersuit states that BamBrogan and the three additional employees (referred to in their countersuit as “the Gang of Four”) actually manufactured conflict and incited rebellion in the workplace in an attempt to seize control of Hyperloop One.

The countersuit includes accusations that the “four” engaged in increasingly disruptive behavior ending with them literally staging a coup in May 2016. They asked certain employees to sign a threatening letter that demanded the company’s board members release their shares and significantly alter the company’s equity structure. The also allege the BamBrogan planned to start a competing company, Hyperloop Two, and that he actively discouraged current and prospective investors of Hyperloop One hoping that they would instead choose to invest in his new company. The countersuit alleges that when BamBrogan’s plan failed, he and the others filed the lawsuit as a media ploy full of lies intended to smear Hyperloop One.

The countersuit specifically states that BamBrogan left the company abruptly a week prior to the filing and sued his former colleagues for wrongful termination as well as claims of failure toward fiduciary duty. BamBrogan’s restraining order against Afshin Pishevar, former head of legal counsel and brother of co-founder Shervin Pishevar, was based on allegations that he placed a hangman’s noose on BamBrogan’s chair as a threat of violence. A Los Angeles judge dismissed it last week. Hyperloop One claims that the photo of the noose on BamBrogan’s chair was a sham, calling it the “stuff of tabloids.”

BamBrogan’s claims that Shervin indulged in a pay-to-play arrangement, paying a public relations vendor from Pramana a salary well above average ($400,000) while they were “dating” were labeled a “salacious personal attack” in the countersuit. Hyperloop One claims none of it is true.

Legal counsel for the plaintiff, BamBrogan, responded to the countersuit by stating that they were basing their counter on pure fiction and that the truth would be shown through evidence.

If you have questions about an instance of wrongful termination or concerns regarding legal grounds for suing, please contact one of the experienced employment law attorneys at Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik.