A story in U.K. newspaper The Times reveals details of the wrongful dismissal suit against itravel2000 owner Travelzest launched by Eddie and Shane Carroll, the father and brother of its Chief Executive, Jonathan Carroll.
The pair are also suing the Travelzest boss for destruction of evidence (tort of spoliation), claiming that Jonathan Carroll, together with Travelzest finance director Jack Fraser, conspired to delete e-mails that could have supported the plaintiffs’ wrongful dismissal case.
The original suit of wrongful dismissal was filed in a Canadian court approximately a year ago claiming $1.4 million for termination without cause, outstanding holiday pay and punitive damages. In a separate claim, the father and son plaintiffs are each claiming another $2.6 million for tort of spoliation.
A spokeswoman for Travelzest told The Times that the company rejected all claims made by the duo, but declined to comment further.
The three members of the Carroll family became involved with Travelzest in 2006 when they sold itravel2000 to the British company for $51.5 million. All three stayed on to continue running itravel2000, with Jonathan promoted to group chief executive in May 2009.
According to the complaint, Eddie and Shane Carroll received termination letters that September, shortly after they withdrew their support for a proposed share placing by Travelzest to raise $9.1 million of new funding.
The complaint claims the two men were “treated harshly, vindictively, in a cavalier manner and without due regard for each plaintiff’s statutory and contractual rights”.
