How the Man Behind 5 Hour Energy Ruined 100+ Lives in One Day
This is a story of how Manoj Bhargava and his company, Renew Group, just fired 80% of the employees of UltraLinq Healthcare Solutions. As of January 5, 2018, I am one of these employees.
Manoj Bhargava, is a name you may not know, but you know the product that is responsible for his billionaire status. 5 Hour Energy. He is also the Non-Executive Chairman of Renew Group Private Limited.
Ravinder Sajwan is another name you may not know, and is the CEO of Renew Group Private Limited.
Renew Group Private Limited’s four core values (as quoted on their website) are Integrity, Respect, Excellence and Passion.
Integrity. Respect. Excellence. Passion. This will become very important as I tell the following story.
A short time ago, Renew Group Private Limited partnered with UltraLinq Healthcare Solutions, a ten year old cloud-based medical imaging and data management company.
For UltraLinq, a startup trying to change the healthcare industry for the better, a partner like Renew Group, with humanitarian-focused Manoj Bhargava made sense.
As of Friday, January 5, 2018, I am a former employee of UltraLinq Healthcare Solutions.
The “bloodbath” on this Friday, as described by UltraLinq’s Global CEO was something that I will not soon forget. What we experienced was unprofessional, unethical, and outright insulting. It is also my belief that the Global CEO and COO did not have knowledge of what was about to transpire. And even if they had knowledge of the restructuring plan, they were not aware of how the manner in which they and the employees would be treated.
Below is a brief timeline of the past week:
On Tuesday, January 2, 2018, I and the employees of UltraLinq return to work following the New Year’s Day holiday.
On Wednesday, January 3, 2018 I arrive to the office at 7:30 am. At approximately 8:30am, Ravinder and a team of five people walk into the office. I recognize Ravinder but none of the other parties. I greet them, and Ravinder immediately asks me where UltraLinq’s Financial Controller is. I tell him that he is not in the office yet, and that I would e-mail him and ask if is on his way. I then show them to the conference room to wait. I emailed the Financial Controller, and he replies that he’s on his way. I thought it was weird that he seemed to not know that Ravinder was coming. In the past, either the Global CEO, COO or the Financial Controller would let me know to expect him. Ravinder comes out again, this time asking for the COO, and I tell him that she isn’t here yet, but is probably on her way.
When the Financial Controller makes it to the office, he immediately heads into the conference room. He walks back out and into the office he shared with the Global CEO and COO. I overhear him say, “I feel like this is an ambush.” I didn’t know what that meant, so I continued to begin my tasks for the day.
Shortly after, the COO arrives, and I tell her that Ravinder is looking for her. She says, “Okay, this is not going to be a good day.” She then walks into the conference room.
About 30 minutes later, the Financial Controller leaves the conference room and approaches me at my desk and asks that I come into his office. I notice that the COO’s laptop is on her desk, and the Global CEO’s desk is empty. The Financial Controller then tells me that both the Global CEO and COO are out. Out of what? I say. He says, out of UltraLinq, followed by “I think I’m going to vomit.” He then asked me to please not say anything because an email is going out to every employee shortly from Ravinder.
About two hours later, the employees of UltraLinq Healthcare Solutions then receive the following email from Ravinder Sajwan:
“I wanted to inform the UltraLinq team that we are making some organizational changes based on the current business environment and our strategic direction. Effective today, UltraLinq CEO and COO will no longer be part of the organization. Both have been with the organization since 2007 and we wish them well in their future endeavors.
With this change, I’ve asked Declan Cassells — Managing Director Renew Health, Shane Cox — Renew Health — Finance and Dawn Poteau — Human Resources to work with the teams during this transition. Tom Moreno will continue to support this team as part of his existing role for Global Product Development. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to them directly.”
On Friday, January 5, 2018 the employees of UltraLinq are locked out of their UltraLinq e-mail. A string of messages started streaming in our Slack channels, with everyone saying the same thing. We were all locked out of our emails. I felt like I was in a bad movie scene where the shady Wall Street firm goes up in flames, and everyone leaves in handcuffs. I arrived to the office, to find that I, along with 80% of the company were fired, without cause.
We were put in a conference room with the Human Resources manager and another person (not sure his name). We were told that due to restructuring our positions have been eliminated. The severance letter each employee was handed stated that we would receive two weeks severance as long as the agreement is signed. This agreement includes a clause restricting us from making any disparaging claims against the parties involved for two years.
Two. Weeks. Severance.
As it turns out only the employees in New York were the only ones given a sit-down meeting. Employees in Durham were stopped at the office entrance, walked to their desks, and were forced to wipe their laptops in front of IT staff from Renew.
Since our UltraLinq emails were immediately locked, UltraLinq’s Global CEO sent the following to our personal email addresses:
“I just heard about today’s bloodbath. For those of you who lost your jobs, as well as those of you who retain them, I am personally so sad for all of us. What we built was special, and the dysfunction of strategy amongst our owners leading to this is unfathomable. The actions today were the antithesis of the ethos by which we lived.
If there is anything that I can do for you (references, etc.), please feel free to reach out. Sadly, I will just begin to search for the next chapter, and therefore have no immediate opportunity|(ies) to offer.
Thank you for all of your support over the past decade.”
Manoj Bhargava is a part of the organization called The Giving Pledge. The Giving Pledge, if you are not familiar, is essentially a group of billionaires (including Richard Branson, Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett, George Lucas) who dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy. What transpired at UltraLinq Healthcare Solutions is the very opposite of this humanitarianism and philanthropy. It is the very antithesis of Renew’s core values that they and Manoj so proudly stand behind.
I, along with many of my colleagues at UltraLinq admired both Manoj and Ravinder’s forward-thinking approach to business, and philanthropic intentions. We were all excited to be a part of making huge changes in the world healthcare industry. Unfortunately, we see both men for exactly what they are now.
What I am struggling with the most though, is how a person who claims to care so much about positively changing the world, makes a decision to treat myself and my colleagues in such a heartless manner. Are we not a part of the world you claim to want to change?
We all know that layoffs happen, companies get bought and sold, and the individuals at these companies are the ones to suffer. But there are ways in which to accomplish things, and this is simply unfair.
I am writing this knowing that there may be legal consequences. I am fine with that.
I will not stay silent.