Former TAP executive president Christina Urmier-Widener has already filed a civil lawsuit against the company and is demanding about 5.9 million euros, Citius reports.
According to the information provided by the ECO newspaper and confirmed by Lusa on the electronic platform of the courts, the lawsuit of the lawyers of Cristina Urmier-Videner was filed on Tuesday and transferred this Wednesday to Judge 3 of the Central Civil Court of Lisbon, indicating that the defendants of the companies TAP SGPS and TAP SA
Speaking to Lusa, the former CEO’s lawyer, Ines Arruda, echoed the information provided by Citius, avoiding further comment for now: “I confirm that a lawsuit against TAP has been filed and that the cost of the lawsuit is low. What [5,9 milhões de euros]”.
Lusa asked TAP and the Ministries of Infrastructure and Finance for comment. The Ministry of Finance, headed by Fernando Medina, has already responded that it will not comment, while Lusa is waiting for answers from the airline and João Galamba’s ministry.
The former CEO of the airline said on April 4 at a hearing before a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the political tutelage of the TAP leadership that she had to restore the honor and reputation of 30 years of experience in the aviation industry and that she refused to resign, as was proposed at a meeting with Medina, because nothing wrong was done.
“March 6th was the worst day of my life, so yes, I will try to restore my honor with the worldwide reputation I have in this industry,” Christina Urmier-Widener said.
Then the former CEO of TAP was peremptory: “The fact that two ministers resigned for a just cause destroys my reputation with my family, my children and friends. I must do it”.
The government announced the dismissal of Christina Urmier-Widener and chairman of the board of directors Manuel Bej on March 6, after the results of an inspection by the General Inspectorate for Finance (IGF) were made public, which concluded that the agreement on the departure of former administrator Alexandra Reis was invalid and most of the compensation ( about half a million euros) must be returned.
TAP’s AGM on April 12 completed the dismissal process, also deciding that new chairman Luis Rodriguez will take office on April 14.
The controversy began at the end of December 2022, when Correio da Manhã revealed that the then finance minister received compensation of around 500,000 euros for leaving the company’s management two years ahead of schedule.
This process has been harmonized under the Commercial Companies Code when TAP falls under the scope of the public manager law.
The case led to a government reshuffle, including the departure of former infrastructure and housing minister Pedro Nuno Santos.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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