A former Williams employee has reportedly filed a $100 million lawsuit against the squad in the United States, drawing the team into a complicated legal dispute.
The Williams team is experiencing a comeback on the racetrack. Having former Mercedes strategy chief James Vowles at the helm, the team is hoping to leverage the investment from owners Dorilton Capital so they can catch up with the Formula 1 league and recapture their former glory.
With 11 points so far, former Red Bull driver Alex Albon has been William’s best performer on the driving side after joining the team last season. However, based on the outcome of a legal dispute, such growth can ultimately come to a standstill.
According to The Times, Claudia Schwarz, a former marketing officer for Williams Racing, has filed a $100 million lawsuit against the team for allegedly seeking to damage her reputation and drive her out of the company while attempting to evade paying her out of contractual agreements.
The former chief executive Darren Fultz was fired by the team after a “mystery investor” in Dorilton demanded that the team’s budget to be scaled back due to insufficient on-track performance.
According to the ex-employee, she claims the team dismissed her by leaking information about an alleged affair she was having with the former chief executive, which she denies.
Williams, on the other hand, has filed a counterclaim worth $6.9 million, in which they accuse Schwarz of orchestrating a scheme to overcharge Williams over the course of more than a year by passing work to suppliers she had ties to through her husband, Axel Ludwig.
Williams responds by claiming that Schwarz started an illicit relationship with Fultz in order to persuade him to authorize “inaccurate and overinflated invoices and improper credit card charges”.
According to the report, Williams was asked for a response but declined. However, Jeremy Friedman who is one of the lawyers from the Downs Law Group has released a statement.
“This lawsuit will bring to light what we contend are false public statements made by Dorilton and Williams about Schwarz and her company that we believe have been done in a calculated effort to avoid both contractual obligations and to put pressure on Schwarz to stay quiet and not defend herself.
“They believed that Schwarz would not fight back and defend herself, her companies and her reputation. She is fighting back.”
Formula 1 is currently in summer break before the teams return to action for the Dutch Grand Prix from August 25–27 at Zandvoort.
