...Davis sues C&W Jamaica - Telcoms claims former boss breached authority
May 30, 2008
Rodney Davis, terminated last year as chief executive officer of Cable and Wireless Jamaica, has sued his former employers to recover £201,840 (J$28 million), or half of what he said was the agreed settlement when he was shown the door in August 2007.
In court documents Davis said C&W claimed to have withheld the cash because of alleged breaches of authority by him in contracts executed while he was boss of the Jamaican subsidiary of the UK-based telecoms firm.
Accusations rejected
Davis, who rejects the accusations in court papers as "disingenuous" could not be contacted for comment on the case filed on his behalf by the Kingston law firm Nunes Scholefield and DeLeon.
He did not return several telephone calls to his office - Davis now works with Joey Issa at Cool Corporations - but claims in court documents that the full amount due to him is £403,680 (J$56 million), which should have been paid in two instalments, subject to his full compliance with the terms of a signed agreement.
C&W declined to speak to the issue.
"Talking about a past employeee of Cable and Wireless, it is just totally inappropriate that I comment in any way," said Phil Green, who last August replaced Davis as the boss of C&W Jamaica and has been busy reversing most of the initiatives of his predecessor.
Revolving door
The company up to this week had filed no defence to the lawsuit.
The CEO's office at C&WJ's corporate headquarters on Half-Way Tree Road in St Andrew has been something of a revolving door for its occupants since the liberalisation of the Jamaican telecoms market at the start of the decade and the Irish upstart, the mobile phone company, Digicel, used the island to launch a big foray into the Caribbean and Central America. Relieved of its monopoly, Cableand Wireless lost market share and bosses in London opted for a conveyor line of CEOs in a desperate bid to grab back business and boost profitability.
Davis, a young, blunt and edgy personality who former colleagues say was given to convening early morning meetings and grilling his executives on operational details, was brought into the company in August 2005 with a mandate to change the fortunes of C&WJ....
Author: Gleaner Reporter
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
