Outcome Health, a Chicago-based tech and advertising startup, offered select employees opportunities for voluntary buyouts Nov. 17, The Wall Street Journal reports.
An Outcome Health spokesperson declined Chicago Tribune's inquiry as to how many employees were offered buyouts. However, in an email obtained by The Wall Street Journal, select employees were offered 10 weeks of pay and some benefits as severance. The employees had until Nov. 20 morning to decide whether to accept the offer.
"The next few quarters will require conviction and fight for our company to succeed," a human resources staffer wrote in the email, according to The Wall Street Journal. "We recognize that these times are trying, and that these challenges are not necessarily right for every team member or their families."
The offer follows reports a group of investors sued Outcome Health and its two founders Nov. 7, alleging Outcome Health engaged in fraud and breach of contract. The lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court in New York County, builds on an Oct. 13 The Wall Street Journal investigation that alleged a subset of employees at Outcome Health manipulated pricing and sales information to mislead pharmaceutical advertisers.
"Outcome Health understands that these are challenging times and that the ongoing scrutiny in the media may not be the right fit for everyone so the company is offering voluntary buyouts," the company wrote in an emailed statement to Becker's Hospital Review.