Fired Pilot awarded $3 Million by court
Fired pilot awarded $3 million by court
Andrew Seymour, Canwest News Service
Published: Saturday, March 01, 2008
TORONTO -- A commercial airline pilot fired seven years ago for allegedly drinking prior to a flight was awarded $3 million after it was determined SkyService Airlines and its chief pilot defamed him.
It's the single highest defamation award in Canada's history, more than doubling the previous largest award of $1.4 million.
When the jury returned their decision after eight hours of deliberation on Thursday, Rick Fennimore could no longer control his emotions.
"I started crying. It was like having a 700-pound gorilla taken off your back after years of fighting," said Fennimore, 47.
While stunned by the amount of damages the jury awarded him, Fennimore said there is no question he deserves it.
"People have absolutely no idea what it's like to have people say 'you can no longer do what you spent your entire life wanting to do,' " said Fennimore, who is now an Ottawa IT consultant.
The jury heard evidence that Fennimore had lost more than $800,000 in wages in the seven years since he was fired by SkyService Airlines in November 2001. The jury also heard the amount of lost wages would exceed $3 million assuming Fennimore worked as a pilot until he was 65.
Robert Walz, the company's chief pilot, fired Fennimore after receiving a phone call accusing him of drinking at a Halifax party hosted by Alexander Keith's brewery in October 2001.
According to Walz, the caller, Dennis Figurido, who was employed in Halifax as a fixed-base operator, alleged that passengers saw Fennimore with a drink in his hand less than seven hours before a flight.
Figurido testified during the trial that he never made those statements.
Friday, the lawyer for SkyService Airlines and Walz argued that trial judge Dennis Power should overturn the amount of damages awarded by the jury since there was "no evidence" to support such a high award for damages.
Lorne Honickman argued the jury failed to follow Power's instructions to the jury to reach an award that is "reasonable" to both the plaintiff and defendant. Calling the amount awarded "manifestly unreasonable" and "shockingly excessive," Honickman asked Power to overturn the amount and reach his own decision on damages.
While recognizing the amount the jury awarded was "generous," Power ruled their was nothing improper about his directions to the jury.
In addition to the complaint about drinking before flying, Walz also claimed Fennimore could not be contacted by the operations centre on more than one occasion, showed up late for more than one flight and was rude and abusive with operations staff.
The allegations were made in front of other pilots and later repeated when Fennimore applied for government employment insurance and again to a potential employer but were never proven. In fact Fennimore says he never even attended the party in question.
When Fennimore, who had previously been a representative for the Airline Pilots Association, asked for an opportunity to refute the allegations, he was denied and summarily dismissed.
"None of it was true. There was never any basis to any of it," said Fennimore, who had been employed by the airline for less than seven months at the time of his dismissal.
(OTTAWA CITIZEN)