Smartphone maker BlackBerry has filed a court case against Sebastien Marineau-Mes, who served the Canadian company as the vice-president in software division since 2010. The case was filed stating a breach of contract in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (SCJ), Canada. Under the obligated mutual documentation between BB and Marineau-Mes, he has to serve a notice period of six months, while Marineau-Mes intended for a two month period, only.
According to a TOI report, the SCJ ruling confirmed that Marineau-Mes and Apple begun talks regarding him joining the US’ top smartphone maker in September. By December last year, he was officially offered the designation of the vice president at Apple’s Core OS division. On 23 December, Marineau-Mes took the appointment and filed for his notice period term.
BB said that they received the application, but Marineau-Mes only filed for a two month notice period, which triggered dispute between the parties. BlackBerry claims that as per his appointment contract in the company, it is mandatory to serve a six month notice. The company said, “BlackBerry will not stand by while a former employee violates his employment contract. It is unfortunate that we had to take this step, but we will do whatever is necessary to ensure that employees honour the agreements they make with us.”
It further added that “when we enter into an agreement with an employee, as we have with Mr. Marineau, we expect him to honour his commitment just as he would expect that we will honour ours. We are pleased that the court has endorsed our position and ruled that the employee contract and its terms are valid.” As of now, Marineau-Mes cannot serve either of the companies.
