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Calibre disputes former CEO's $600,000 claim
2022-03-21 20:45 ET - Street Wire
by Mike Caswell
Calibre Mining Corp. denies that it did anything wrong when it fired its former chief executive officer, Russell Ball. The company says that it was entitled to dismiss Mr. Ball after it determined that his continued employment was "no longer sustainable." Calibre offered him one year of severance, as specified in his employment contract, but Mr. Ball refused the offer.
The company is responding to a lawsuit that Mr. Ball filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia on Feb. 28, 2022. Mr. Ball complained that Calibre fired him from his $300,000-per-year job after just 16 months, and that it did so for no reason. He said that his dismissal was part of a deliberate effort to avoid having to issue his share-based compensation, which would have been worth about $600,000. His firing came the day that he was to receive 155,172 restricted share units and an option to buy 376,712 shares, he complained.
For its part, Calibre denies doing anything wrong. In a response filed on March 17, 2022, the company says that it dismissed Mr. Ball after determining that "the employment relationship was no longer sustainable." The company offered Mr. Ball severance pay that was specified in his employment agreement, amounting to one year of salary. Mr. Ball declined the offer, refusing to sign a release that was part of the deal, the response states.
As for the $600,000 worth of share-based compensation, Calibre says that nobody told Mr. Ball he would receive anything after his employment ended. He ceased to be an employee before the date that the shares and options were to be issued, which means he did not qualify to receive them, the response states. The company specifically denies Mr. Ball's accusation that it acted in bad faith in firing him just before the issuance.
For those reasons, Calibre asks that the suit be dismissed, with costs. Vancouver lawyer David T. McDonald of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP filed the response on the company's behalf.
In the markets, Calibre is an active trader. The stock closed at $1.47 Monday, up two cents but well off its 52-week high of $2.36.
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