Former Rogers executives, Ted Woodhead and Moheni Singh, are reportedly suing the telecommunications giant for wrongful termination in the aftermath of the company’s $20-billion acquisition of Shaw, reports The Globe and Mail.
The legal suits have followed a series of job cuts and leadership reshuffles at Rogers since the completion of the mega-deal.
Ted Woodhead, previously Rogers’ chief regulatory officer, is pursuing damages for “wrongful dismissal, breach of contract and unjust enrichment.” According to his statement of claim, Woodhead argues that he was denied his Shaw bonus, despite playing a pivotal role in the negotiations and success of the takeover.
In a separate lawsuit filed in April, Moheni Singh, the company’s former Vice President of Human Resources, alleges that the company had committed to certain compensation if she delayed her retirement, only to dismiss her shortly before she would have been eligible to receive it.
Rogers has responded to Singh’s allegations, stating that it “honoured its contractual obligations” and provided her with “generous separation entitlements,” including a bonus and 13 months of salary. In response to Woodhead’s lawsuit, a company spokesperson stated that Rogers would respond through the courts.
The lawsuits come amidst an ongoing leadership shuffle and job reductions at Rogers, following its successful merger of Shaw. After concluding the deal in April, following a two-year regulatory review, the company has been reducing its staff to eliminate overlapping roles. The number of employees let go over the past three months is a “small percentage” of its workforce, according to Rogers.
In court documents, Rogers stated that Singh’s dismissal was part of a broader company restructuring process which included laying off “at least 35 senior employees,” including Singh and two other senior HR executives.
Mr. Woodhead is seeking approximately $350,000 in incentive compensation, $2.46-million in deferred compensation, and $1.89-million for what he considers a “reasonable notice period of 16 months.”
Ottawa-based Woodhead started his own consulting company called Woodhead Regulatory Consulting Inc. in May. He noted his time at Rogers as 3 years and 1 month. Prior to working at Rogers, Woodhead was a longtime executive at Telus for 15 years. From 2000-2004 he was with Rogers as the company’s government relations director, and prior to that, spent nine years with the CRTC.
Both cases are pending in court and none of the allegations have been proven yet.
