BlackBerry Ltd has gained the favorable ruling of the court in a lawsuit to temporarily prevent former executive vice president (EVP) Sebastien Marineau-Mes from leaving for Apple. The smartphone maker claimed Marineau-Mes breached the six-month-notice for resignation in his contract, according to The Globe and Mail.
Marineau-Mes was promoted to the position of EVP in the fall of 2013. However, it was a tough time for the company and a promotion freeze was implemented. In September 2013, he began communicating with Apple and tendered his resignation on December 23 of the same year. He told BlackBerry he would move to Apple in about two months, saying the six months' notice did not apply to him since he never performed the duties of and EVP, the report detailed.
TechCrunch cited BlackBerry saying: "BlackBerry will not stand by while a former employee violates his employment contract. It is unfortunate that we had to take this step, but we will do whatever is necessary to ensure that employees honor the agreements they make with us. When we enter into an agreement with an employee, as we have with Mr. Marineau, we expect him to honor his commitment just as he would expect that we will honor ours. We are pleased that the court has endorsed our position and ruled that the employee contract and its terms are valid."
As a result of the court ruling, Marineau-Mes will have to wait until June 23 before he can officially become an Apple employee, The Globe and Mail reported.
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