Reuters: Velodyne Founder and His Wife Fired for an Alleged Lack of Honesty

Reuters, BusinessWire: Velodyne Lidar has removed its founder David Hall as chairman and his wife Marta Thoma Hall as marketing chief for a lack of honesty, a charge Marta Hall said the couple was not allowed to rebut in a board meeting she described as an “ambush.”

The investigation by the fully independent Audit Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors concluded that Mr. Hall and Ms. Hall each behaved inappropriately with regard to Board and Company processes, and failed to operate with respect, honesty, integrity, and candor in their dealings with Company officers and directors. Accordingly, the Board approved remedial actions including the removal of Mr. Hall as Chairman of the Board and the termination of Ms. Hall as an employee of the Company.

However, Marta Hall described the brief Friday board meeting at which she and her husband lost their jobs as a surprise, and added the SPAC, that took Velodyne public through a reverse merger last fall was trying to cut the Halls out of the decision-making process at Velodyne.

“It was like an ambush,” she told Reuters in an interview. “We had no chance to defend ourselves.”

David Hall is the largest shareholder of the company with a 35.43% stake as of Feb. 12, while Marta Hall owns a 3.74% stake.