Ex-TAP CEO lawsuit against TAP to be heard at civil court

The former CEO of TAP, Christine Ourmières Widener, is to begin her lawsuit against the airline at a hearing in a civil court in Lisbon.

According to an order published this week, the airline’s defence team alleged that the Judicial Court of the District of Lisbon was “not competent” to hear the case, but the argument has been rejected.

The air carrier’s defense team alleged that a €5.9 million claim for compensation had been made in the wrong court, arguing that it should have been delivered to the Administrative Court, and not to the Central Civil Court of Lisbon.

Almost a year and a half after the case was filed to court, the lawsuit from the former CEO has taken a new turn.

The case revolves around the executive’s challenge against the Portuguese State’s decision to dismiss her “for just cause” that had been announced on March 6, 2023.

The legal team representing Christine Ourmières Widener contest her dismissal was “illegal” on the grounds given.

Another order gave the manager’s defence team just 10 days to substantiate an argument that Christine Ourmières Widener had made a contribution to exceeding TAP’s financial objectives.

But “since it (the order) does not indicate how these conclusions were to be established, what the objectives were and what results were expected and obtained, and what profits were generated that had not been expected”, the Court invited the manager to detail this information.

Christine Ourmières Widener’s team is challenging the dismissal for just cause announced by the former Minister of Finance, Fernando Medina and João Galamba, former Minister of Infrastructure, on March 6, 2023.

The government at the time based its decision to dismiss the executive on an opinion from the General Inspection of Finance (IGF) over Christine Ourmières Widener decision to allow a controversial compensation payout of €500,000 to a TAP director, Alexandra Reis.

The IGF report concluded that the payment to Alexandra Reis was “illegal” and stated that Christine Ourmières Widener and the former chairman of the board of directors of TAP, Manuel Beja who was also dismissed for just cause, as those responsible for having signed what amounted to a golden handshake for Alexandra Reis in February 2022, which went against her (Christine Ourmières Widener) status of a public manager.

It was a conclusion refuted several times by Christine Ourmières Widener, including at a TAP Management Inquiry Committee, when she argued that her dismissal was a “political decision”.

Regarding the amount of compensation requested by the former TAP CEO – who according to the French press was also dismissed in January from her position leading Air Caraïbes and French Bee – the compensation involves amounts she considered herself entitled to until the end of her contract (in 2025), as well as performance bonuses since TAP posted profits in 2022 after five years of losses.

Christine Ourmières Widener defence team also argues that she achieved goals established in the restructuring plan for the airline agreed with Brussels early – almost three years before the agreed timeline.

In addition, her team also argue that some of the compensation is because she had been dismissed without the company complying with a 180-days notice, and for damages to her reputation.

But TAP’s lawyers argue that the former CEO had accumulated positions in other companies, which violated the rules of a Public Manager. TAP also accuses Christine Ourmières Widener of a conflict of interest with the company that hired her husband, and who tried to provide services to the airline, causing “serious reputational risks” to the carrier.

During the Inquiry Committee it was heard that Floyd Murray Widener tried to sell services to TAP from an Israeli company he worked for, Zamna Technologies.