Futuristic travel tech company Hyperloop One has announced that a lawsuit brought against the company by four former employees, including Mr BamBrogan, has been settled for an undisclosed amount. An internal email from chief executive Rob Lloyd informed employees that the lawsuit had been settled, but declined to provide further details: ‘Lawsuits can be distracting for companies; they often halt momentum until they can be resolved. That didn’t happen here,’ he said.

Sensational claims

The lawsuit against Hyperloop One’s management team was levelled just weeks after the company’s first ever public test in the Nevada desert in May this year. Co-founder Mr BamBrogan, a former SpaceX engineer, reportedly left the company after a failed attempt to seize control from what he called the organisation’s ‘money men’ – chief executive Shervin Pishevar, chief legal officer Afshin Pishevar and chief executive Rob Lloyd. His accusations against the trio were many and varied, including fiscal misconduct, nepotism, wrongful dismissal, infliction of emotional distress and even assault. The sensationalism of some of Mr BamBrogan’s claims ensured that the lawsuit gained wide media coverage – among the most striking, that former assistant general counsel David Prendergast had been fired in front of his wife and children, and that a ‘hangman’s noose’ had been placed on Mr BamBrogan’s office chair following a dispute with Afshin Pishevar.

Moving on

With the lawsuit now behind it, Hyperloop One is hoping to redirect its now substantial media profile towards the company’s technological achievements, rather than the antics of its management committee. The company recently announced ambitious plans to build a tube-style transport hyperloop in the United Arab Emirates which it claims could allow passengers to travel from Dubai and Abu Dhabi in just 12 minutes. On the other side of the saga, lawyers for Mr BamBrogan delivered a statement released by the four claimants following the settlement: ‘We are planning to build rad s**t with rad people, starting with our take on hyperloop,’ it reads. ‘More to come in the near future.’

Sources: The Verge; The Register; Business Insider