The Board Strikes Back ... Shocking Claims of Mispropriety! Nothing like food, booze and free tail to keep a man on the job ... albeit the wrong job!
Not a very flattering photo!
2017-10-06 10:45 ET - Street Wire
by Mike Caswell
Destiny Media Technologies Inc. says that it fired its former president, Steven Vestergaard, after he devoted too much of Destiny's time and resources to running his personal businesses. He was regularly absent from work and was unavailable to manage the company's employees. He also employed a romantic partner at Destiny without disclosing the relationship, the company says.
The statements from Destiny come in response to a wrongful dismissal lawsuit that Mr. Vestergaard filed against the company on Sept. 5, 2017. He claimed that the company's board conspired to remove him as president and sought damages based on his $260,000-per-year salary. He also said that the company defamed him in a regulatory filing that implied he was dishonest and incompetent.
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| DESTINY MEDIA |
| Steven Vestergaard |
For its part, Destiny portrays Mr. Vestergaard's dismissal as entirely justified. In a response filed on Sept. 27, 2017, the company says that it began having troubles with Mr. Vestergaard after he purchased external businesses in late 2016. These businesses included a cold beer and wine store and a cafe. After the acquisition, the external businesses began occupying much of Mr. Vestergaard's time, the response states. Among other things, he was preoccupied with issues ranging from financing and construction to the items on the cafe's menu, the company claims.
This activity, as described in the response, did not go unnoticed. Destiny says that Mr. Vestergaard was regularly absent from work, was unavailable for meetings with the board and predominantly worked on his external businesses during business hours. This occurred while he was being paid by Destiny, the response states.
Adding to the trouble, Mr. Vestergaard was suffering personal cash flow problems because of his businesses, Destiny claims. His deteriorating financial position led him to use company credit cards for personal expenses and led to delays in him repaying the amounts, according to the response. He also demanded a salary increase to $400,000 from $260,000, an amount that Destiny calls unreasonable.
The problems, as described by Destiny, led to the board hiring a third party investigator on June 21, 2017. At the same time, the company placed him on leave. The investigation concluded that Mr. Vestergaard was "spending very little time on DMT [Destiny] business and therefore [was] not able to fulfill the duties of CEO."
The report, as quoted in the response, had many uncomplimentary descriptions of Mr. Vestergaard. It stated, "Specifically, Mr. Vestergaard's behavior demonstrates an improper use of DMT resources (staff, his own time, facilities and email) and a practice of not conducting himself in a manner consistent with 'prudent and proper management practices.'" The report further stated that there was "a great amount of evidence that supports the appearance of a number of improprieties."
In addition to those issues, Destiny claims that Mr. Vestergaard employed his common law spouse or romantic partner at the company. In doing so, he failed to disclose the true nature of his relationship with her to the board. She too devoted a substantial amount of her time to working on Mr. Vestergaard's external businesses, according to the response.
As Destiny sees things, Mr. Vestergaard's actions amounted to dishonesty, time theft, misappropriation of company resources, insubordination and a breach of duty. For those reasons and others, the company fired him, the response states. The dismissal came on June 28, 2017.
Destiny denies that it defamed Mr. Vestergaard in dismissing him. The company says that it completed a regulatory filing disclosing the matter, which is a requirement. The filing stated that the company had dismissed him after an earlier suspension. It provided no details of the reasons for his suspension or firing. The company further denies that it had any intention of harming Mr. Vestergaard or that it acted in bad faith.
For those reasons, Destiny asks that the suit be dismissed. Vancouver lawyer Nazeer Mitha filed the response on behalf of Destiny and three of its directors (who were also defendants).
The dismissal of Mr. Vestergaard brought an end to his 26-year position at the Destiny. He had founded a predecessor of the company in 1991. The stock is now a thin trader, and was last at 20 cents.
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