Caribbean Airlines Claims “Contractual Right” to Terminate CEO

Officials at Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) say the company’s board of directors had a “contractual right” to terminate former CEO Ian Brunton, according to multiple press reports. Brunton was fired in late November “in order to better serve the interests of the company’s newfound synergies” with Air Jamaica,” according to Om Lalla, a CAL attorney.

Brunton had earlier said his termination was “unlawful and improper,” and asked to be reinstated. In an interview published last week in Trinidad & Tobago’s Newsday newspaper, Lalla said the company’s board of directors “unanimously decided that the interests of the company going forward, especially with regard to the synergies that needed to be developed with Air Jamaica, were better served by a new CEO.”

He added that Brunton’s employment contract allowed CAL to terminate Brunton with notice. A statement on the CAL website confirmed Brunton had “demitted office” and said the board of directors named Robert Corbie, vice president of commercial and customer experience, as acting CEO. The Newsday report said Brunton “may soon come to an agreement” on a settlement package. Brunton joined CAL in 2007 as executive vice president and was named CEO in October 2009.