In early November, when reporting its third-quarter earnings results, the electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors announced several organizational changes including two promotions, one retirement and one departure.
At the end of the release, which went live minutes after the financial results, Lucid said that its Senior Vice President of Product and Chief Engineer Eric Bach had “departed” the company.
A week later, on November 12, EV exclusively reported that the executive, who had joined Lucid in April 2015 as Senior Director of Body Engineering after spending about three years at Tesla, had actually been forced to leave — according to a source close with the matter.
The firing has now been confirmed.
On Monday, Eric Bach’s representatives filed a federal lawsuit against Lucid Group Inc. in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination.
The complaint, filed by New York-based Wigdor LLP and California-based Robinson Markevitch & Parker LLP, claims Lucid‘s Human Resources department, led by Chief People Officer Gale Halsey, targeted Bach after a Senior Director of Human Resources referred to the top German executive as a “German Nazi.”
Allegations of Discrimination
The lawsuit alleges that Rachel Rivera, Lucid‘s Senior Director of Human Resources and the HR representative responsible for Bach’s group, made the racist comment to Bach’s colleagues.
“Rivera intended the comment as an insult, stereotyping Bach based on his race as a member of the Nazi Party that ruled Germany under Adolf Hitler,” the complaint states.
According to the filing, Lucid confirmed Rivera’s conduct after an internal investigation but took no meaningful remedial action.
“Rather than take appropriate remedial action, however, Halsey sought to protect Rivera,” the complaint alleges.
“Halsey told Bach that Rivera had been moved to a new role, making her the Company’s Senior Director of Talent Development & Culture, People Operations, and the HR Institute, because she (Rivera) had made some negative statements about Bach,” the filing adds.
Bach protested the response, telling Halsey that Rivera should have been fired for creating a “hostile work environment,” according to the lawsuit.
Termination Timeline
The complaint states that on October 22, 2025, Lucid attempted to force Bach to resign. Two days later, on October 24, Bach’s legal counsel protested that he was the victim of discrimination and retaliation.
Less than two weeks later, on November 5, Lucid fired Bach.
“On November 12, 2025, Lucid made negative public statements about Bach to EV, a business blog reporting on the electric vehicle industry,” the filing states.
“In an obvious effort to lash out at Bach because of his protected activity, Lucid falsely blamed Bach for production delays, significantly damaging his reputation,” it adds.
The complaint alleges Lucid “requested that the publication not attribute the disparaging statements to any Lucid executive but, rather, to an anonymous ‘internal source.'”
Decade of Recognition
According to the filing, Lucid consistently rewarded Bach with significant compensation, including more than $5.2 million in equity in 2022, $7.2 million in equity in 2023, and $9 million in stock in September 2024.
The company also increased his salary from $488,942 in 2023 to $626,000 in 2025 and awarded him a $1 million bonus for his work on the Lucid Gravity SUV.
“For a decade, Lucid recognized Bach’s extraordinary performance by awarding him merit-based salary increases, bonuses and equity worth millions of dollars,” the complaint states.
The filing also claims high-level executives continued to praise Bach even as HR moved against him.
Board Chairman Turqi Alnowaiser “praised Bach’s loyalty and dedication to the Company and expressed a desire to continue working with Bach,” while Board member Andrew Liveris “signaled that Bach would become Chief Technology Officer” and “could one day become Chief Executive Officer,” according to the lawsuit.
Claims Filed
Bach’s complaint includes three causes of action: discrimination in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981, retaliation in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981, and wrongful termination in violation of public policy under California law.
The executive is seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and costs, and a jury trial.
Executive Departures
A similar exit had been announced in February.
Also immediately after the release of the quarterly results, the company said Chief Executive and Chief Technology Officer Peter Rawlinson was leaving the role, adding that the Board was searching for a new CEO.
The EV maker said Rawlinson would transition to the role of Strategic Technical Advisor to the Chairman of the Board, with a monthly salary of $120,000 among other benefits.
Lucid shares fell nearly 5% on Monday after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock from Equalweight to Underweight and cut its price target to $10 from $30, citing dilution risk and a long path to profitability.
