A couple is suing their pet insurance company’s investors for kicking them out of their co-CEO positions – after they gave birth to a child.
Ex-commando Chris Ashton and his wife Natasha are suing parent company Fetch Inc.’s controlling investors for taking away their CEO titles. These investors include banking mogul Vernon W. Hill Jr. and billionaire hedge fund investor Steven A. Cohen; the two men initially named the Ashtons co-CEOs.
According to the couple’s lawsuit, their company – Petplan – topped $100 million in sales in 2017, and, at the time, they were collecting salaries of $375,000 each, plus benefits. But things went downhill in November that year, when Natasha was “visibly pregnant” for a London luncheon meeting with her husband and one of their first big investors, Fetch board member Christiaen van Lanschot.
Lanschot allegedly told the couple that they should inform Hill and Cohen that they are expecting, or Natasha’s approaching maternity would “derail” the company’s pending board meeting.
The Ashtons said that they were “concerned with Mr. Hill’s likely reaction to Natasha’s pregnancy,” they claimed in their lawsuit. The couple also called Hill a man susceptible to “blatantly and insultingly sexist comments.” Natasha eventually sent an email announcing her pregnancy.
Hill later called Chris to join a post-Christmas meeting “without Natasha,” it was stated. The three director-investors then allegedly urged Chris to become sole CEO, but Chris turned them down. Natasha even reportedly called them, asking “for clarification.”
Six weeks after that meeting, Natasha had her baby. And another six weeks after that, in late April, the board stripped the Ashtons of their co-CEO titles. The Ashtons called the decision a breach of their contract. When the board failed to respond, the two resigned and demanded $2 million each, for firing “without cause.”
In a statement, the investors said that the couple’s claims “are without merit and we are confident the matter will be resolved in our favor.” The investors also said that they are committed to moving forward “in the best interest of Petplan,” under new CEO Paul Guyardo.
Hill’s and Cohen’s lawyers argued in court filings that it was the Ashtons that broke their contract. The board had been dissatisfied with the couple’s performance in recent times. And while the two lost their co-CEO titles, their pay and benefits were untouched. When they quit, the two “materially breached” their contract, and shouldn’t get severance, the filings stated.
