safety tech corporation Evolv fires its chief executive

recent YORK — Amid the backdrop of a sales misconduct investigation and other looming legal troubles, safety technology corporation Evolv is now firing its CEO.

Evolv’s board of directors terminated chief executive Peter George on Wednesday, effective immediately, according to a Thursday announcement from the corporation. Michael Ellenbogen, Evolv’s current chief recent concept officer, will step into the role as interim CEO and president.

Specifics behind George’s firing were not immediately obvious — but Evolv noted the dismissal was without factor and followed months of “careful planning and deliberation” by the board.

The shift arrives just days after Evolv disclosed an ongoing investigation into the corporation’s sales practices, warning shareholders to no longer depend on recent monetary statements. The board acknowledged this investigation Thursday, but maintained that it had been “evaluating leadership and act for several months — long before we became aware of any potential issues relating to the corporation’s sales practices and monetary reporting.”

Evolv shared initial findings this investigation last week. An internal committee found that sure employees engaged in sales “subject to extra-contractual terms and conditions,” the corporation noted, some of which were not shared with monetary reporting personnel. Evolv says it’s trying to determine if this misconduct impacted turnover reports and other monetary metrics, and if so, when elder personnel became aware.

How high up that could be has yet to be confirmed, but Evolv said it would receive any remedial actions as essential. As of Friday’s disclosure, the investigating committee estimated that sales transactions at issue resulted in premature or incorrect turnover recognition of about $4 million to $6 million through the complete of June.

This is far from the first period Evolv has found itself in warm water. The corporation has faced other legal issues over the years, including divide federal probes into its marketing practices led by the Federal Trade fee and the stocks and bonds swap fee.

And earlier this year, investors filed a class-action lawsuit, accusing corporation executives of overstating the devices’ capabilities and claiming that “Evolv does not reliably detect knives or guns.”

Evolv, which provides safety screening technology powered by artificial intelligence, also made headlines after a pilot testing program used its portable weapons scanners inside some recent York City subway stations this summer.

That program faced ample criticism from some civil liberties groups, as well as questions of efficacy. Recently released police data showed that the scanners did not detect any passengers with firearms — and had more than 100 untrue alerts over the one-month test.

Following the information of George’s firing, shares for Evolv were down nearly 10% Thursday afternoon.

According to the corporation, Evolv’s board formed a succession planning committee to assess leadership act and schedule for a CEO shift back in May. The corporation noted that it’s been actively recruiting candidates for CEO, and intends to announce an official successor “expeditiously.”

In a statement Thursday, the board added that a leadership transformation was essential “to enhance the corporation’s population as we prepare for the next phase of growth.”

Ellenbogen, the current interim CEO, is one of Evolv’s co-founders and previously served as chief executive for seven years.

In August, Waltham, Massachusetts-based Evolv reported second-quarter turnover was $25.5 million, up 29% from $19.8 million for the same period last year. Its next returns update is delayed due to the ongoing sales misconduct investigation.