Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
EV maker Canoo has not reimbursed workers for thousands of dollars in expenses and failed to pay salaried employees their full, final paychecks for the last two weeks of December by the expected date of December 31.
Canoo, which pays employees on the 15th and the last day of each month, issued full paychecks on December 15 but only partial payments by the end of December, the recently furloughed employee told local media outlet News 4.
The EV startup notified a significant portion of its workforce about a 12-week unpaid furlough period, which was communicated in three rounds. Despite that, the affected employee named the partial payment of the last two weeks of the year “illegal” under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
“They just kind of prorated. So instead of, say, a $4,000 check, people got a $500 check or a $600 check. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, that’s illegal,” the employee stated.
On December 19, the Texas-headquartered company said the latest round of furloughs affected “both salaried and hourly” workers, adding that it was “idling its factories in Oklahoma while it works to finalize securing the capital necessary to move forward with its operations.”
On the first trading day of the year, Canoo shares dropped to a record low of $1.24, approaching Nasdaq’s delisting threshold of $1.00. As of the time of writing, the stock is trading 7% lower at $1.26.
Canoo x AFV
Tony Aquila became the CEO of Canoo in April 2021. Two years earlier, Aquila founded AFV Partners LLC which would, one year later, provide rescue capital to the EV maker. AFV describes itself as a sustainable capital vehicle investing globally in assets with a positive environmental impact.
In December, an internal source revealed that employees of Aquila’s AFV Management Advisors are paid through Canoo’s payroll system while adding that these have not been affected by the recent three waves of furloughs.
Canoo, now headquartered in Texas, became part of AFV’s investments in July 2020 when the firm agreed to provide rescue funding to the company.
Canoo announced on November 6 that it had secured a $12 million revolving credit facility from AFV Management Advisors, a company founded by Canoo CEO Tony Aquila. Two weeks earlier, in late October, the EV maker said it had raised $1.12 million through a promissory note issued by AFV.
Auction of Manufacturing Equipment
As recently reported by EV, the company is auctioning engineering and manufacturing equipment from its EV and battery facilities in Oklahoma.
Following the recent three rounds of furloughs affecting most of its staff, the auction organizer BidItup has announced that the sale will take place via webcast on January 24, 2025, less than a month away.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
