A former worker of Higher.com has alleged that Higher.com and its CEO have supplied deceptive knowledge to traders to make sure SPAC deal.
Vishal Garg. (Photograph: Higher.com)
A former Higher.com worker is suing the corporate and its leader govt, Vishal Garg, alleging they supplied deceptive statements to traders in regards to the virtual loan company’s monetary possibilities and function.
Sarah Pierce, a former govt vice-president for gross sales and operations on the SoftBank-backed corporate, claimed in her lawsuit that Garg misrepresented Higher.com’s statements to make sure traders undergo with a SPAC merger as a substitute of taking flight because of its monetary situation.
A Higher.com attorney stated the claims have been “with out benefit”.
Additionally learn: Higher.com CEO Vishal Garg who fired 900 staff over Zoom name returns after month-long wreck
SoftBank didn’t instantly respond to a Reuters request for remark.
Higher.com’s plan to head public thru a merger with a special-purpose acquisition corporate (SPAC) Aurora Acquisition Corp, in a deal that valued it at $7.7 billion, was once agreed to remaining yr and has but to near.
SPAC offers have been amongst the freshest funding tendencies throughout the pandemic as early-stage corporations regarded to head public.
Pierce stated within the lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in a US district court docket southern district of New York, that she was once driven out of her position in February in retaliation for elevating issues in regards to the deal. She is looking for monetary reimbursement.
“We’ve reviewed the claims within the grievance and strongly imagine them to be with out benefit,” a attorney for Higher.com stated in an emailed commentary to Reuters. “The corporate is assured in our monetary and accounting practices, and we will be able to vigorously shield this lawsuit,” the attorney added.
Based in 2016 and headquartered in New York, Higher.com gives loan and insurance coverage merchandise to house owners thru its on-line platform.
Final yr, Garg needed to apologise for his way of dealing with layoffs after a video of him firing 900 staff over a Zoom name went viral on social media.