- A lawsuit says Fisker failed to pay engineers who helped build its Pear and Alaska vehicles.
- In a statement to BI, the EV company said the claims are "without merit."
- Fisker recently told employees that cuts could be coming if things don't improve.
Fisker is now facing a $13 million lawsuit, the latest challenge for the struggling electric vehicle startup.
Fisker — which recently warned employees of layoffs — has been accused of stiffing an engineering firm on payments over the development of its Pear and Alaska vehicles.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court this week, was first reported by TechCrunch.
In the suit, a Michigan-based subsidiary of Bertrandt says Fisker broke a development agreement signed in May 2022.
According to the complaint, Bertrandt agreed to help Fisker launch its Pear electric car by providing "engineering, design, and development services," but Fisker failed to pay for the work and put the agreement on an indefinite "pause."
In a statement to Business Insider, a Fisker spokesperson said the accusations are "without merit."
"It is a legally baseless and disappointing attempt by what has been a valued partner to extract from Fisker payments and intellectual property to which Bertrandt has no right to under the relevant agreements or otherwise," the Fisker spokesperson said.
The lawsuit also alleges that Fisker asked Bertrandt to help with its Alaska pick-up truck and agreed to pay a quote of $1.66 million for the work, although there was never a formal written agreement or payment for the work.
According to the lawsuit, the unpaid services total over $7 million. Bertrandt says in the suit that Fisker agreed in February 2024 to pay over $3.6 million toward the balance but didn't follow through.
The suit also accuses Fisker of holding onto Bertrandt's intellectual property "related to the engineering and development of the PEAR and ALASKA vehicles." It seeks just under $13 million in damages.
Layoffs could be on the horizon
On Monday, Fisker sent an email to staff telling them they could be laid off in two months.
"Fisker is diligently pursuing all options to address our operating cash requirements, including maintaining discussions with prospective buyers and investors and exploring various restructuring alternatives," the company said in a memo to staff, according to three workers and an email seen by BI. "There is a possibility, however, that these efforts will not be successful."
The memo said the cuts would be immediate.
Last month, Fisker CEO Henrik Fisker told staff at an all-hands meeting that the startup was in talks with four automakers about a possible acquisition, according to a recording of the event seen by BI.
Fisker didn't say who the four companies were.
"They obviously need time to get to some diligence," he said.
Fisker told employees the company was working with Deutsche Bank to find a buyer.
Meanwhile, several sources told BI that Fisker has been using parts from its preproduction vehicles and its inventory of vehicles to fix some customers' cars.
One employee told BI that the parts were used in roughly 10 to 15% of fixes over the last few months.
A Fisker spokesperson denied those allegations earlier this week.
"No parts have been taken off these vehicles for use in customers cars," the spokesperson said. The spokesperson said parts may have been stripped off engineering vehicles "for analysis or to retrofit other engineering vehicles, but never customer vehicles."