According to Forbes, 60 Metromile employees were let go just hours after Lemonade closed the $145 million deal.
A former Metromile employee said "for most people, it came as a surprise...During the merger process, it was widely assumed that everyone would have a role at Lemonade."
Lemonade first agreed to buy the company at the end of 2021, and the transaction was completed last week.
"We're thrilled that we've finalized our acquisition of Metromile, and that we've been able to offer a role at Lemonade to approximately 80 percent of the Metromile team," a Lemonade spokesperson said in a statement.
"The combined entity is greater than the sum of its parts, and it can operate with fewer people than the two separate entities." This makes the deal appealing to shareholders while clearly hurting those who were not extended an offer to join Lemonade."
This would not be the first time the deal has sparked debate. Not long after the deal was announced, Halper Sadeh, a global investor rights law firm, launched an investigation into whether the sale of Metromile would be fair to its shareholders, citing concerns that Metromile and its board of directors violated federal security laws or breached their fiduciary duties to shareholders.