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The former vice-president of a low-cost airline that was once based in Kelowna is suing his former employer for firing him over what he calls "made up allegations."
Flair Airlines, a discount airliner that offers flights to several cities across Canada, moved its headquarters from Kelowna to Edmonton in June.
On Tuesday, Chris Lapointe, Flair's former vice-president of commercial operations, filed a notice of civil claim, alleging he was wrongfully terminated on April 25 after 13 years with the company.
In the claim, Lapointe, a Kelowna resident, says Flair cited several reasons for his firing in his termination letter, including “recklessness in the performance of your duties, gross incompetence, breach of your fiduciary obligations, conflict of interest, attempts to defraud, insubordination and unwarranted absenteeism.”
Lapointe, who worked for the company since 2005, says he had never heard of the allegations until the month of his firing.
“The plaintiff (Lapointe) pleads that Flair Airlines trumped up the allegations to establish just cause where there was no just cause as a means of avoiding their financial obligations on termination to a long-term employee earning a high remuneration,” Lapointe's claim states.
Lapointe goes on to allege that Jim Scott and Jerry Presley, who purchased a majority of the company's shares in December 2017, threatened “to take steps to 'destroy' Lapointe's personal and professional reputation in the aviation industry” if he tried to fight his termination.
The firing did not come completely out of the blue. Lapointe says he was stripped of all of his responsibilities shortly after Scott and Presley purchased a majority of company shares.
“When the plaintiff failed to resign from his position despite being stripped of all of his duties for a number of months, Flair Airlines took steps to suspend the plaintiff while they conducted a workplace investigation,” Lapointe's claim states.
Less than three weeks after the suspension, Lapointe was fired.
“The conduct of Flair Airlines was harsh, vindictive, reprehensible and malicious,” the claim states. Lapointe is seeking general, punitive, aggravated and special damages, along with interest and court costs.
Flair Airlines has yet to respond to the notice of civil claim and did not return Castanet's request for comment on the case by publication time. None of the claim's allegations has been proven in court.
