Usain Bolt: Quick on track – slow to pay salaries

Dylan Bettencourt

The world’s fastest man Usain Bolt has been accused of not paying the staff of his failed startup.

Four of the former employees claim they still were not paid for the month of June when the company collapsed.

Bolt Mobility crashed in July after running out of money, leaving behind hundreds of electric scooters and bicycles abandoned across the United States – and the four unpaid staff members.

The employees were reassured that they would receive payment and that the halt in production was only temporary until the company found new investment which never arrived.

“I consider that to be defrauding the employees by not paying us for the last month of work,” one of the former Bolt employees told the New York Post.

“I’ve been lied to and manipulated.”

Another employee claimed they felt violated by Bolt and the company.

After the employees spoke out a spokesperson for the company said the staff would be paid.

“Arrangements are being made to compensate the employees in the next few days,” the spokesperson told the New York Post.

The former employees have since received their payment – three months late.

The business ran into further scrutiny for abandoning the scooters that could be unlocked through their mobile application.

“The owners have vanished, leaving equipment behind and emails and calls unanswered,” the senior transportation planner for Chittenden County, Vermont, Bryan Davis told Techcrunch.

Bolt, the world record holder in both the 100m and 200m races, founded the company in 2018 alongside entrepreneur Sarah Haynes.

The pair raised around R700 million in startup capital for the venture, Crunchbase data reported.

Bolt claimed the company aimed to revolutionise transportation through safe, smart and sustainable transit solutions.

Image source: @NewYorkPost

spot_imgspot_imgspot_imgspot_img

Recent articles