WeWork founder CEO Adam Neumann has been accused of smoking marijuana on chartered planes by his former chief of staff.
Medina Bardhi said the Israeli-born tycoon smoked in her presence while she was pregnant and that she feared for her unborn child.
Neumann quit in September as chief executive of the company which rents out flexible office space in an empire of property across the world. WeWork was forced to abandon plans to float on the New York stock exchange as it became clear the IPO would not meet its initial valuation.
Bardhi is accusing Neumann of discriminating against her by replacing her with a man on more than twice her salary when she took maternity leave. She claims she was sacked On October 2 after complaining, and is asking the US Equal Employment Opportunities Commission to bring a class action against WeWork on behalf of her and other female employees.
WeWork said: “WeWork intends to vigorously defend itself against this claim. We have zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind. We are committed to moving the company forward and building a company and culture that our employees can be proud of.”
