PHILIPSBURG:--- On Friday, October 31st, the judge K. Mans gave ruling on 2 important cases filed against these three former managers at Winair, Jeff Oliver, Elvis Queeley, Michel Carter. In the ruling the judge dismissed the case against the3 former managers in which they were accused of many things, including embezzling information, misusing Winair
Of important note in both cases, that the judge did not decide that the firing on urgent grounds was justified. This is an important distinction to note: The judge did not decide to agree with dismissal on urgent grounds, but rather in the decision (4.1 and 4.2 in the beschikking) stated that Winair could either drop the case against the defendants and rehire them by November 16th or take the route that both parties are ultimately requesting, which is to dissolve the working agreement.
While the judge did not award compensation, the 3 managers are here to say that they are happy with the victory as this was not about money, but about clearing their names and preventing Winair from placing fines of up to $1 Million dollars (as per Vonnis 2.1-I) among many other penalties. The judge found it unproven that the gentlemen misused Winair’s information to the benefit of St. Maarten Airways as per her discussion in 4.6 of the court document. It is important to note that Winair was the one who filed this case, and lost it their case in court.
It is the belief of the gentlemen that these huge fines were planned to be imposed on them, so that their personal finances would be destroyed and their investment in SXM Airways crippled to a halt as a result. It is great news for both the indiduals as well as the airline that this was not awarded by the judge. The judge also, ordered the government owned company to pay its own legal fees for both cases against the gentlemen as well.
The managers are expecting Winair to adhere to the judgment and not pulling back the case, allowing them to move on with their lives, and most importantly, expect that Winair will cease and desist from slandering them any further with false, unproven accusations.
“We strongly urge people to read the verdict clearly to understand what the judge really decided today. We have had to endure undue slander from people associated with the company leaking false information to the media. Let the record show that their accusations and demands for millions in compensation were proven false in court and ordered to be dropped.” Said Mr. Elvis Queeley, the former Senior Operations Manager at Winair.
“We just want to clear our name and move on, and that is why we see this as a great victory for us,” Said Jeff Oliver, former Chief Pilot for the company, “A personal friend within the company told me that Winair came in gloating that they had won, and was surprised when I showed him the verdict. Upon hearing this I decided to come to the media to ensure Winair does not misconstrue this judgment and continue to try to discredit us even after having lost their case against us.” Jeff also explained that, had Winair won its case, one of the requests was to restrict how much he could speak to Winair Employees, and would not have even been able to have that conversation without consequences.
“I am relieved this is over and I am ready to move forward in life,” Michel Carter, former Head of Corporate Quality and manager of Safety and Security, “Personally, I think it’s a shame that Winair spent all this time and money on fruitless case, perhaps hoping we would have lost and had to cover their legal fees, and also pay them millions in damages, hurting our chances to form SXM Airways. As a former manager whose key role was safety within the company, my opinion is that Winair could have better spent those resources upgrading existing employees to fill the key safety positions that were lost by their hasty decision to fire us, which, as I understand to this day are still unfilled. I don't understand how a major airline can choose to continue to operate under those circumstances, but I hope safety remains the top concern at Winair even after we are gone” said Carter.
The gentlemen expressed their thanks to all friends and family for support during this time, as well as their legal representation.
