The former chief engineer of Lucid Motors, Eric Bach, has sued the company for wrongful termination, discrimination, and retaliation, and claims one of the automaker's top HR executives referred to him as a "German Nazi." The federal lawsuit, filed Monday in the Northern District of California, claims Bach was stripped of his responsibilities overseeing the powertrain division in early 2025 as a result of an HR investigation into the company's workplace culture.
Here are some eye-opening numbers: Last year, nearly 20 million Americans got pink slips. By June of this year, 10 million employees had been dismissed from a range of industries and companies, including blue-chip tech firms like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, as well as once secure federal agencies. A whopping 1.6 million workers are laid off each month. Losing your job is a perpetually looming threat: 40% of American workers report being terminated at least once in their careers;
As of August, Musk - who is listed on the org chart as "CEO and Technoking" - had 19 direct reports, compared with 35 before a round of layoffs in 2024 and 30 in late 2021. He has maintained nine of the same direct reports over the past three years, including design chief Franz von Holzhausen, who has been with the company since 2008; vice president of AI software Ashok Elluswamy; vice president of vehicle engineering Lars Moravy;
This year has already brought 70 force-outs in all through July 31, according to exechange.com. However, data shows that female CEOs have shorter tenures and are more likely to be forced out than their male counterparts.
