Mark John Hardwick Chown was paid in part by Rosedale (JW) Investments Ltd – Flybe’s former majority shareholders – as a business consultant, but was dismissed for gross negligence in June 2013.
He is now suing the trust for £1,894,558, alleging that his contract was breached and that he lost out on nearly £2 million in payments.
The bulk of those payments are said to be made up of two years’ worth of his £472,500 salary and an entitlement under a long-term bonus scheme worth £895,580.
Among his claims, Mr Chown, who relocated to the Island for the role, says that Rosedale wrongly adopted allegations made against him as a trustee as alleged failings as an employee, that the trust failed to give him 24 months’ notice and that disciplinary proceedings brought against him were ‘a sham’.
However, Rosedale says that Mr Chown’s claims should be struck out. In its response, the organisation admitted that Mr Chown had been employed until being dismissed on 24 June 2013, but denied his claims and denied that it was liable in the case.
The paperwork, which denied that the defendant has breached the plaintiff’s contract of employment ‘as alleged or at all’, also outlined terms of Mr Chown’s contract.
It stated that the defendant was entitled to dismiss the plaintiff summarily, without notice or payment in lieu of notice if ‘the senior executive has been … grossly negligent, or committed any gross misconduct in connection with or affecting the business of the company or group’.
The case is due to continue.
