Caterham F1 counterattacks and will sue its former employees
The Caterham F1 team announced in a statement that it intends to take action against its former employees, who had accused it of wrongful dismissals.
Accused earlier this week by a group of former employees of carrying out wrongful dismissals, the Caterham F1 team and its new owners issued a statement announcing that they will take legal action.
Representatives of a group of about 40 former employees of the Anglo-Malaysian team, recently laid off, announced that they plan to sue the team for damages following what they consider to be unfair dismissal. Their lawyer, Christopher Felton, explained that these employees were let go without notice or consultation, which goes against labor law. However, Caterham responded via an official statement.
« Caterham F1 has read with great attention the recent statements concerning a group of individuals who are complaining about wrongful dismissals by the Formula 1 team following its change of ownership. The team will initiate legal proceedings against the parties representing the individuals involved, and each person involved, seeking reparations for the damages suffered by the team due to the enormous distortion of facts by the individuals concerned, » explains this statement.
The organization intends to deny the elements put forward by the former employees: « These allegations claim that [the former employees] were dismissed by Caterham F1: this is false. The staff of Caterham is employed by a company that is a supplier to the [1Malaysia Racing] company which holds the license for F1 […] which allows participation in the Formula 1 World Championship. Additionally, the team has read allegations that its staff was not paid in July: again, this is completely false. Every person currently employed by Caterham was paid for the month of July as of July 25, one week before their normal payment due on the last day of the month, in this case, July 31. »
Caterham also requests that the allegedly misleading statement be withdrawn: « A formal request for the withdrawal of the relevant press release published on July 28 has been made by Caterham F1, and the team will vigorously pursue its action against the individuals involved. However, this will not distract from its focus on securing 10th place in the championship and preparing for the 2015 campaign and beyond. »
