Shield AI Under Fire As Lawsuit Details Graphic Misconduct Claims
Shield AI is facing a lawsuit that accuses a senior official of "profane, egregious" sexual harassment as well as alleged fraud and safety misconduct involving other employees.
Jacob Miller is suing Shield AI after he was put on "retaliatory administrative leave" in December. Miller says that Senior Director of Customer Operations Trey Lindsey allegedly made sexually explicit and threatening comments about him and other employees, Bloomberg reported.
Miller says Lindsey showed him a photo of his genitalia and also made offensive comments about a gay employee and his husband. He also alleges the company failed to address safety issues and fraud allegations.
Benzinga reached out to Shield AI but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
Miller was on the company's Mishap Review Board, which investigates product failures, crashes and injuries tied to autonomous drone testing; when he raised concerns over aircraft safety, he says he was removed from the board.
During a financial audit of his team, Miller alleges he came across evidence that another employee was committing fraud. That employee quit after Miller removed them from their position; however, the lawsuit states that Lindsey and another senior employee attempted to rehire the person following the alleged harassment.
Miller says that Lindsey's behavior included "physical touching, genital display, sexual comments, and sexual imagery,” which was different from interactions he had with other employees.
The lawsuit alleges that Miller met with a senior director in June, disclosing the issues he was having at the company, and the company did not take any action to rectify the situation.
Miller sought to resign in November, but says he was urged to stay, with a promise from the company that the issues would be investigated. In December, the company hired attorneys to investigate. These scheduled investigation meetings were made public on Microsoft Teams, so everyone at the company could see who was a witness and who was under investigation, Bloomberg noted.
Miller, who ultimately left the company a month ago, states in the lawsuit that the meetings with Shield AI's attorneys did nothing to solve the issue or correct the misconduct.
Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a defense-technology startup headquartered in San Diego, California. The company is valued at approximately $13 billion and builds autonomous, AI-powered aviation software and unmanned aircraft systems. Its flagship products aim to protect military service members and civilians in hospital and GPS-denied environments.
In March, the company said that it planned to hit more than $540 million in revenue this year, Fortune reported.
Photo: Image via Shutterstock
