Garg, CEO of Better.com, is being sued by Sarah Pierce, a former vice president for sales and operations for the SoftBank-backed online mortgage firm. Better.com had agreed about one year ago to merge with a blank-check company in a $7.7 billion transaction that would see Better.com go public, but that deal has not been finalized.
Pierce alleges in her suit that Garg misrepresented his company’s statements so the deal could move ahead. Garg worried that investors would ditch the merger agreement due to the company’s financial struggles, Pierce notes in her suit, which also goes after Better.com.
Garg had publicly slammed workers he fired December 1 for being unproductive and saying their laziness amounted to them “stealing” from co-workers and customers. He resumed his “full-time duties” as CEO of Better.com in January following a leave of absence and apology. “I understand how hard these past few weeks have been. I am deeply sorry for the angst, distraction and embarrassment my actions have caused,” Garg wrote in his own letter to employees last December. “I've spent a lot of time thinking about where we are as a company and the type of leadership Better needs ... and the leader I want to be.”
