- A lawsuit says Fisker failed to pay engineers who helped build its Pear and Alaska vehicles.
- In a statement to BI, EV said the claims were “baseless.”
- Fisker recently told employees that cuts could happen if things don’t improve.
Fisker now faces a $13 million lawsuit, the latest challenge for the embattled electric vehicle startup.
Fisker – which recently warned its employees of layoffs – has been accused of forcing payments on an engineering company for the development of its Pear and Alaska vehicles.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court this week, was first reported by TechCrunch.
In the lawsuit, a Michigan-based subsidiary of Bertrandt claims Fisker breached a development agreement signed in May 2022.
According to the complaint, Bertrandt agreed to help Fisker launch its Pear electric car by providing “engineering, design and development services,” but Fisker failed to pay for the work and instead agreed to a Indefinite “pause”.
In a statement to Business Insider, a Fisker spokesperson said the accusations were “baseless.”
“This is a legally baseless and disappointing attempt by a valued partner to extort from Fisker payments and intellectual property rights to which Bertrandt has no rights under the relevant agreements or otherwise ” said the Fisker spokesperson.
The lawsuit also alleges that Fisker asked Bertrandt to help him with his Alaska pickup truck and agreed to pay a quote of $1.66 million for the work, although there was never a written agreement. formal or payment for the work.
According to the lawsuit, the unpaid services total more than $7 million. Bertrandt says in the suit that Fisker agreed in February 2024 to pay more than $3.6 million toward the balance, but did not follow through.
The suit also accuses Fisker of owning Bertrandt’s intellectual property “related to the engineering and development of the PEAR and ALASKA vehicles.” She is seeking just under $13 million in damages.
The Fisker Alaska electric van. Fisker
Layoffs could be on the horizon
On Monday, Fisker sent an email to staff telling them they could be laid off in two months.
“Fisker is diligently considering all options to meet our operating cash flow needs, including maintaining discussions with potential buyers and investors and exploring various restructuring alternatives,” the company said in a memo to to staff, according to three employees and an email viewed by BI. “It is possible, however, that these efforts will fail.”
The memo said the cuts would be immediate.
Last month, Fisker CEO Henrik Fisker told staff during an all-hands meeting that the startup was in talks with four automakers about a possible acquisition, according to a recording of the event seen by BI.
Fisker did not specify who the four companies were.
“They obviously need time to do their due diligence,” he said.
Fisker told employees the company was working with Deutsche Bank to find a buyer.
Meanwhile, multiple sources told BI that Fisker was using parts from its pre-production vehicles and vehicle inventory to repair some customers’ cars.
An employee told BI the parts had been used in about 10 to 15 percent of repairs in recent months.
A Fisker spokesperson denied the allegations earlier this week.
“No parts were removed from these vehicles for use in customer cars,” the spokesperson said. The spokesperson said parts may have been dismantled on engineering vehicles “for analysis or to retrofit other engineering vehicles, but never on customer vehicles.”
businessinsider
