If you were looking for a nominee for the Worst Boss of the Year, look no further than Better.com CEO Vishal Garg, who is taking time off in response to the backlash he has received for behaving like trash.
Garg landed in hot water earlier this month when he decided to lay off 900 of the digital mortgage company's employees, or 9% of its workforce, in a call before the holidays. The story doesn't end there. Garg accused at least 250 fired employees of stealing from their colleagues and customers on the anonymous social media forum Blind, saying that they only worked two hours but worked for more than eight hours.
Garg apologized in a public message on Tuesday, after facing backlash for his cruel behavior. He said he messed up when communicating the layoffs.
The Better's board of directors sent an email to employees telling them that Garg would be taking time off. Kevin Ryan will be the company's CFO in the interim. The board hired an independent third-party firm to carry out a leadership and cultural assessment and provide recommendations to build a better company culture.
The board wrote that they hope everyone can focus on their customers and support each other as they continue to build a great company.
Better did not respond to Gizmodo's request for confirmation about whether Garg was stepping away and additional comment. If we hear back, we will make sure to update this post.
The company announced earlier this week that it was postponing its SPAC deal to go public.
Garg's behavior isn't surprising. A Forbes report shared an email he had sent to employees.
Garg wrote that the better team should wake up. You are too slow. You are a bunch of dolphins and they get caught in nets and eaten by sharks. Stop it. Stop it. Don't let it happen right now. You are confusing me.
Garg has called one of the company's top investors "sewage", as pointed out by Vice. When it comes to Indigenous Peoples' Day, the CEO told employees that they should work to earn capital and freedom.
Garg is the embarrassment in this case and many others that the public is unaware of. I am happy that the employees left at Better will get a break from the scumbag. I hope the company leadership reconsiders having someone like Garg in charge. Wait, money.
