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WestJets $15.5 Million Apology to Air Canada
In a joint announcement released this past Monday by WestJet and Air Canada, WestJet “unreservedly apologize[d]” to Air Canada for downloading “detailed and commercially sensitive information without authorization or consent from Air Canada”. As part of the settlement, WestJet has agreed to pay Air Canada’s investigation and litigation costs of $5.5 million as well as make donations to children’s charities across the country in the amount of $10 million.
The settlement brings to a close one of the highest profile corporate-espionage cases ever in Canada. In its $220-million lawsuit filed last year against WestJet, Air Canada had alleged that WestJet had wrongfully used the personal logon information of a former Air Canada employee, who had been hired by WestJet, to access a password protected area of Air Canada’s website to obtain confidential information. The suit alleged that the information obtained identified Air Canada’s most profitable flights and times and allowed WestJet to plan its expansion into new routes and adopt competitive pricing strategies. In the joint announcement, WestJet admitted that it had engaged in such a practice “with the knowledge and direction of the highest management levels” and accepted “full responsibility for such misconduct”.
Air Canada has accepted WestJet’s apology as part of the settlement. Although the announcement indicated that the charitable donation would be in the names of both parties, the carriers, however, did not indicate to which party the tax benefits of the donations would accrue.
For a copy of the joint announcement, visit:
http://cnrp.ccnmatthews.com/client/westjet/headlinesen.jsp?year=current
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