Supply chain technology firm Slync.io removed co-founder and CEO Chris Kirchner from the top spot Monday, following a string of employee allegations that accused the firm of dodging worker pay as its former leader focused on failed attempts to purchase a U.K. football club.
Slync, which has been embroiled in accusations it hasn’t paid employees for, in some cases, two months has placed chief of staff Tim Kehoe in the role of acting president following Kirchner’s ouster.
“Chris, our CEO, has been suspended, at this point, of his duties as CEO and Tim is our acting president at this point. So, that’s all we can say,” Slync vice president of global sales and marketing Burt White told Sourcing Journal by phone Tuesday afternoon.
White declined to comment on the reason for Kirchner’s suspension or the issues around payroll.
An email to Kirchner on Tuesday requesting comment on the news bounced back. Kirchner’s Twitter account was also deleted.
Slync’s software helps shippers automate carrier management, documentation and purchase orders among other logistical aspects of their business. The company closed on a $60 million Series B last February in a round led by Goldman Sachs’s growth equity division. Goldman Sachs did not respond to a request for comment on Kirchner Tuesday.
The CEO and company have been accused of not paying its employees for multiple pay periods, an issue that has been voiced by workers in various online outlets and news reports.
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One employee said he had gone without a paycheck for two months as he solicited his online network for open positions. Others have lobbed similar complaints of three missed paychecks in one case, partial reinstatement of pay and lack of transparency into the company’s financial health. Glassdoor reviews are littered with complaints about missed pay, mismanagement and a lack of transparency into Slync’s financial health.
A spokesperson for Slync told Sourcing Journal earlier this month the company would provide a statement on the payroll concerns. However, the individual ultimately did not provide comment on the matter or respond to multiple other questions or subsequent requests for comment related to employee pay and the possibility of a Series C that had been reported by industry trade publication FreightWaves.
A Forbes report said Jason Selvidge, former vice president of engineering, is suing the company for unpaid wages, wrongful termination and breach of contract among other allegations. The article, published this month, cited a draft complaint that had not yet been filed in court.
Kirchner’s suspension follows a number of departures from Slync’s C-suite.
Former chief marketing officer Matt Gunn, who was promoted to be Slync’s first CMO, left the position four months later in April. Executive vice president and chief revenue officer Paul Pessutti departed in March after serving for about a year in the position. It’s also been reported chief financial officer Samar Kamdar is also no longer with Slync. A LinkedIn profile for Kamdar says he held the CFO role through May.
Even with the payroll issues, which employees began airing publicly as early as May, Kirchner remained in the public eye.
He was photographed as recently as July 5, when he played in the two-day JP McManus Pro-Am charity golf tournament in Ireland.
Kirchner also made waves when he attempted to purchase the Derby County Football Club, which entered administration, or bankruptcy, in September amid losses that were only swelled during the pandemic.
Kirchner was cited as the preferred bidder to buy the club out of administration and had said on Twitter in May, “I will be the next owner of Derby County Football Club.”
However, the English Football League confirmed last month Kirchner failed to buy the club.
Elsewhere in the world of sports, Slync had signed itself up to be the official logistics partner of the National Hockey League’s Dallas Stars in March. However, the tech company reportedly owes the Stars about $800,000 in late sponsorship payments.