Edward Rogers has made good on his promise to take Rogers Communications’ messy leadership dispute all the way up to the British Columbia Supreme Court.
According to a press release from the company itself, the court will hear submissions “regarding the legality of Edward Rogers’ attempt last week to replace five of the Company’s independent directors with nominees of the Rogers Control Trust through a written resolution.”
The statement also reemphasizes Rogers (The Company™)’s position that the resolution put forth by Rogers (The Son™) is “invalid.”
If you, like many Canadians, are confused about what the heck is happening right now at one of the country’s biggest telecom providers, here’s a timeline of major events so far.
To summarize the main points, Edward tried to oust Rogers CEO Joe Natale, the plan backfired, and now the company’s board of directors is split into two factions: Team Edward and Team Joe, the latter of which ironically includes Edward’s mother Loretta, and his sisters Martha and Melinda.
Now, Edward is taking the squabble to B.C.’s Supreme Court, in hopes of having his faction legally recognized as the new official roster for Rogers’ board of directors.
However, early reporting on the court case from the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star has revealed contradictory stories from the Rogers family as to how the schism began.
In his court filings, Edward claims that Loretta and Martha were initially onboard with his plan to swap out Natale for the company’s then-CFO Tony Staffieri.
However, Loretta Rogers argues that her initial support of the swap was skewed by inaccurate, incomplete and biased information about Natale’s performance provided to her by Edward and his co-conspirators.
As a result, another board meeting, chaired by Melinda Rogers, was held without Edward present, where she, Martha and Loretta voted to fire Staffieri and support Natale.
The court hearing is scheduled for Monday, November 1st.
Source: Globe and Mail; Rogers; Toronto Star
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