Snapchat is on the way to an IPO and becoming a publicly traded company. That’s quite a rise for a photo-sharing app, but now a former employee is claiming that it’s not been quite as smooth of a rise as the company would have people believe. He claims that Snapchat has been faking it’s own growth in an effort to increase its value artificially before shares are available.
The employee was hired to help with that growth, and prior to being hired, he’d had the same job over at Facebook. When he got to Snapchat, he says that he found out they only wanted him because they hoped he’d have inside information about Facebook. He also found out about the alleged faked growth numbers and he says he refused to be part of that scheme.
After just three weeks at Snapchat, they fired him. He says he was a whistleblower, telling those in positions of power about the false growth, and that’s why he was fired. He’s started a wrongful termination lawsuit. He also said that it made it harder to pick up a new job after the firing, claiming that Snapchat was lying about him if anyone called to check up on him.
A lot of the fine details about how the numbers were allegedly faked still may be confidential. His legal team said they’re still trying to determine what is covered by the agreement he signed and what isn’t.
For it’s part, Snapchat has denied the allegations. The company claims he’s just a disgruntled employee who made the story up before the IPO.
A sudden, high-profile firing can have a drastic impact on your career. If you believe you were wrongfully terminated and that your rights were violated, be sure you know what legal options you have.
Source: The Next Web, “Snapchat ex-employee claims company faked growth stats to boost value,” Jan. 05, 2017