Earlier this month, electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive Inc. (Nasdaq: RIVN) released fourth-quarter results that disappointed investors, and the stock continued its downward fall since its IPO last November.
While stock swings, supply chain issues and lower-than-projected production figures have been headline-grabbers, getting less publicity to date is a lawsuit filed by Tesla Inc., the world’s most valuable auto manufacturer, alleging trade secret misappropriation and other claims against Irvine-based Rivian and various individual defendants who previously worked at the EV giant (Nasdaq: TSLA).
“Tesla alleges that the individual defendants took confidential and trade secret documents and information at Rivian’s direction when they left Tesla’s employ to join Rivian, including recruitment and personnel information, sales data, service data, manufacturing information, new market expansion information, and documents and code relating to battery technology,” Rivian’s prospectus said.
“Tesla also alleges that by doing so, the individual defendants breached their non-disclosure and other agreements with Tesla. We believe Tesla’s claims are meritless and intend to vigorously defend against this lawsuit.”
Separately, an old-fashioned way of doing business also made its way into a lawsuit against Rivian.
Last March, the Illinois Automobile Dealers Association, the Chicago Automobile Trade Association, the Peoria Metro New Car Dealers Association, the Illinois Motorcycle Dealers Association and over 200 individual franchised motor vehicle dealers located throughout the state of Illinois filed suit against Rivian, claiming that manufacturers cannot directly sell new motor vehicles to consumers in Illinois.
Rivian’s main production hub is located in Normal, Ill., while a new facility for the roughly $35 billion-valued firm is in the works near Atlanta.
“We believe that the final outcomes of these pending matters will not, either individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition,” Rivian’s prospectus said.
