WestJet Airlines launched a CAD$30 million (USD$24 million) lawsuit against Air Canada on Wednesday, claiming its rival's legal action against WestJet is part of an overall campaign to destroy the no-frills carrier.
WestJet, target of a CAD$220 million lawsuit from Air Canada over allegations of corporate espionage, said that suit is an abuse of the justice system aimed at destroying WestJet's reputation and driving it out of business.
WestJet's 16 page statement of claim, filed with Ontario Superior Court, is the latest salvo in a nasty legal war that has enveloped Canada's airline industry since last spring.
It names Air Canada, the country's largest airline, its defunct low-cost subsidiary Zip Air, Air Canada chief executive Robert Milton, vice-president Steve Smith and former vice-president Calin Rovinescu.
"Competition is one thing, but the use of litigation as a stalking horse to advance other avenues of attack, for the purpose of eliminating a competitor, is another," WestJet said in its claim. "The Air Canada action is brought for no other purpose than the destruction of WestJet as a competitor."
In response, Air Canada said in a statement that WestJet's claim was without merit and "nothing more than an attempt to divert attention" from Air Canada's suit.
The imbroglio, which has weighed on the stock price of WestJet, Canada's No. 2 carrier, stems from revelations that former WestJet vice-president Mark Hill was responsible for his staff gaining access to private Air Canada data through an employee web site, nearly a quarter of a million times.
But in the new claim, WestJet alleges that Air Canada's Smith -- formerly president of WestJet -- was aware of the activities in mid-2003, several months before Air Canada sued, and that Air Canada could have cut off the access.
According to the claim -- none of which has been proven in court -- Air Canada's executives allowed the activities to continue because the information on passenger numbers was of no value and because they planned to launch the suit.
Air Canada conspired to destroy WestJet by launching its lawsuit, unlawfully seizing WestJet's and Hill's confidential information and conducting a public smear campaign with materials from the legal proceedings, the WestJet claim said.
During those proceedings, it was revealed that Air Canada's private investigators rifled through the garbage at Hill's Vancouver Island home and sent shredded documents to a Texas firm to be pieced back together.
WestJet also alleged that Air Canada's lawyers made reference in the first legal action to sealed confidential information relating to rival no-frills airline Jetsgo.
The information led to Montreal-based Jetsgo joining the fight with its own CAD$50 million lawsuit against WestJet in October, the statement said.
WestJet is seeking damages of CAD$25 million for abuse of process and intentional interference with economic interests, and punitive damages of CAD$5 million.
source: http://news.airwise.com/stories/2004/12/1103144366.html
WestJet, target of a CAD$220 million lawsuit from Air Canada over allegations of corporate espionage, said that suit is an abuse of the justice system aimed at destroying WestJet's reputation and driving it out of business.
WestJet's 16 page statement of claim, filed with Ontario Superior Court, is the latest salvo in a nasty legal war that has enveloped Canada's airline industry since last spring.
It names Air Canada, the country's largest airline, its defunct low-cost subsidiary Zip Air, Air Canada chief executive Robert Milton, vice-president Steve Smith and former vice-president Calin Rovinescu.
"Competition is one thing, but the use of litigation as a stalking horse to advance other avenues of attack, for the purpose of eliminating a competitor, is another," WestJet said in its claim. "The Air Canada action is brought for no other purpose than the destruction of WestJet as a competitor."
In response, Air Canada said in a statement that WestJet's claim was without merit and "nothing more than an attempt to divert attention" from Air Canada's suit.
The imbroglio, which has weighed on the stock price of WestJet, Canada's No. 2 carrier, stems from revelations that former WestJet vice-president Mark Hill was responsible for his staff gaining access to private Air Canada data through an employee web site, nearly a quarter of a million times.
But in the new claim, WestJet alleges that Air Canada's Smith -- formerly president of WestJet -- was aware of the activities in mid-2003, several months before Air Canada sued, and that Air Canada could have cut off the access.
According to the claim -- none of which has been proven in court -- Air Canada's executives allowed the activities to continue because the information on passenger numbers was of no value and because they planned to launch the suit.
Air Canada conspired to destroy WestJet by launching its lawsuit, unlawfully seizing WestJet's and Hill's confidential information and conducting a public smear campaign with materials from the legal proceedings, the WestJet claim said.
During those proceedings, it was revealed that Air Canada's private investigators rifled through the garbage at Hill's Vancouver Island home and sent shredded documents to a Texas firm to be pieced back together.
WestJet also alleged that Air Canada's lawyers made reference in the first legal action to sealed confidential information relating to rival no-frills airline Jetsgo.
The information led to Montreal-based Jetsgo joining the fight with its own CAD$50 million lawsuit against WestJet in October, the statement said.
WestJet is seeking damages of CAD$25 million for abuse of process and intentional interference with economic interests, and punitive damages of CAD$5 million.
source: http://news.airwise.com/stories/2004/12/1103144366.html
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