BlackBerry sues exec to stay after being poached by Apple
A Canadian court ruling issued on Tuesday reveals BlackBerry is holding an employment contract over SVP of Software Sebastien Marineau-Mes' head, blocking his departure from the flailing company after being hired away by Apple last year.
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice's ruling notes Marineau-Mes discussed leaving BlackBerry in September of 2013 and was formally offered the position of VP of Core OS in December, reports iMore. He accepted and handed in his letter of resignation on Dec. 23.
According to the court document, BlackBerry then sued Marineau-Mes over a breach of contract terms that stipulated the executive needed to provide at least six months notice before leaving the company. That contract was signed in September when the company promoted Marineau-Mes. At the time, BlackBerry was carrying out a freeze on all promotions.
The court sided with BlackBerry and agreed that the software exec needs to stay on for a full six months.
In a statement to iMore, BlackBerry said:
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice's ruling notes Marineau-Mes discussed leaving BlackBerry in September of 2013 and was formally offered the position of VP of Core OS in December, reports iMore. He accepted and handed in his letter of resignation on Dec. 23.
According to the court document, BlackBerry then sued Marineau-Mes over a breach of contract terms that stipulated the executive needed to provide at least six months notice before leaving the company. That contract was signed in September when the company promoted Marineau-Mes. At the time, BlackBerry was carrying out a freeze on all promotions.
The court sided with BlackBerry and agreed that the software exec needs to stay on for a full six months.
In a statement to iMore, BlackBerry said:
It is unclear if Apple will wait the four months for Marineau-Mes and what the executive will do at BlackBerry in the meantime.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 honor the agreements they make with us. When we enter into an agreement with an employee, as we have with Mr. Marineau, we expect him to honor his commitment just as he would expect that we will honor ours. We are pleased that the court has endorsed our position and ruled that the employee contract and its terms are valid.
Comments
They don't want him to miss out on his redundancy package.
On the one hand a contract is a contract, but with Marineau-Mes wanting to leave his heart won't be in it. Even if he's an ethical employee he'll be less productive than someone motivated by a company they believe in. Perhaps a buyout would have been better.
I think they're going to give him the George Costanza/Play Now treatment.
Maybe my math is off, but the article states that he was contractually obligated to give six months notice, and he handed in his letter in December. Doesn't that mean a wait until May...around two months from now? Where is this four months referenced in the last sentence coming from?
Talent goes where genius can fellowship.
Good questions.
This isn't fair to Apple. They hired him fair and square, and should not have to put up with some dying Canadian has-been playing stupid games. Times change and Blackberry might as well just give up. They laughed at the iPhone but who is laughing now. They are just jealous of Apple and that is why they want to mess with this guy and not let him have a better job at Apple.
Sure pay someone a truck load of money you can't use for anything because everything they do at this point will be used over at Apple to kill what's left of BB. This was a complete waste of resources. It's no wonder BB is going out of business.
It's what happens when lawyers are listened to, too much! They make everybody look bad!
Most businesses go out of business in the first 3 years. ~95% of businesses that do make it, go out of business once the original founder dies. Apple, Ford, Boeing, Walmart, MacDonald's, etc., are exceptions to the rule....not the rule. Usually, businesses like BB, Montgomery Wards, CompUSA, etc., etc., hire incompetent CEO's that listen to the lawyers, accountants and overpriced consultants and slowly but surely run the business into the ground. That's the rule. They're known as "Store Closers!" They pad the numbers, eventually leave and go buy a boat in Florida.
*denotes lifetime of company.
This vid. is a bit old, but I can't take my eyes off her tongue! Let me know if you agree!
"Step one, lose the gun, step two, buy a canoe...."
Best
This isn't fair to Apple. They hired him fair and square, and should not have to put up with some dying Canadian has-been playing stupid games. Times change and Blackberry might as well just give up. They laughed at the iPhone but who is laughing now. They are just jealous of Apple and that is why they want to mess with this guy and not let him have a better job at Apple.
Perhaps not but the onus is on Marineau-Mes for not being forthcoming, and to a lesser extent Apple, for not properly investigating if such a situation as this existed.
Other than the lawsuit, I think it is an interesting hire. QNX has crazy efficient embedded tech that is used in a lot of industries. Heck, even CarPlay interacts with QNX. It will be interesting to see what he brings to the table...at least once he can actually start work.
As a side note...it is truly amazing what has happened to BlackBerry and to a lesser degree, Microsoft. They had such dominant positions in mobile.
Perhaps a buyout would have been better.
While on the topic of buyouts, Lenovo was planning to make a bid on BlackBerry last year, but the Canadian government would not allow it.
While on the topic of buyouts, Lenovo was planning to make a bid on BlackBerry last year, but the Canadian government would not allow it.
There's a lot of nationalism that comes with large corporations and BlackBerry at one point was a beacon of Canadian enterprise. Not so much anymore. It's kind of sad.
What a petty and vindictive action by BB. No wonder they're going out of business, when they waste their energy doing shit like this. The guy obviously doesn't even want to be there- they should have just let it go. Instead, they sue and force him to stay several more months, when he clearly cares little about the company and has minimal incentive to contribute to its success? This move was made more to punish the employee (and Apple) and has nothing to do with the contract. In my experience, most places are lenient with these things. The last place I left had 3 months notice in my contract, I didn't give them that amt of notice and they didn't care. No, obviously they just want tok keep this guy away from Apple for a while longer- as if it will make any difference.
On the one hand a contract is a contract, but with Marineau-Mes wanting to leave his heart won't be in it. Even if he's an ethical employee he'll be less productive than someone motivated by a company they believe in. Perhaps a buyout would have been better.
A buy-out by who?
Marineau-Mes pays BlackBerry to leave? Nah'
and he was already leaving so Blackberry wouldn't have to pay him anything to leave...