06-29-2004, 10:45 PM
From CTV.ca
WestJet Airlines has announced its intention to sue Air Canada for "unlawfully" seizing confidential information from one of its executive's homes.
WestJet will file a statement of defence against Air Canada in a Toronto court on Wednesday against claims it used a private company to access confidential information about Air Canada's passenger traffic.
According to The Canadian Press, the Calgary-based discount carrier will also file a $5-million counter-suit against Air Canada. It alleges that private investigators working for Air Canada illegally seized confidential financial information from "recycling material" at Mark Hill's home in Oak Bay, B.C.
Hill is one of two WestJet employees named in Air Canada's claim that the discount carrier used a private Internet portal to access passenger traffic data.
"Hill states they trespassed on his private property to unlawfully seize WestJet documents that had been shredded and placed in a recycling container for pick up by municipal employees," said a statement released by WestJet late Tuesday.
"Air Canada then hired a Houston, Texas firm to reconstitute the shredded documents, which include WestJet's confidential and sensitive business and financial information unrelated to Air Canada's claim."
The documents, WestJet says, included financial statements, fleet planning documents, capital budgets, and even profit and loss statements.
Air Canada is calling WestJet's counter suit a "diversionary tactic."
In that suit, filed last April, Air Canada alleged WestJet had exploited the still-active access code of WestJet financial analyst Jeffrey Lafond.
Lafond is a former Canadian Airlines International employee.
Although Air Canada alleges the code was used to access the site more than 240,000 times over a nine-month period, WestJet's statement of defence will deny that the company used information from the site "for any purpose."
The company also contends the information on the employee site is actually publicly available from a number of sources, including "counting passengers and other public websites."
WestJet Airlines has announced its intention to sue Air Canada for "unlawfully" seizing confidential information from one of its executive's homes.
WestJet will file a statement of defence against Air Canada in a Toronto court on Wednesday against claims it used a private company to access confidential information about Air Canada's passenger traffic.
According to The Canadian Press, the Calgary-based discount carrier will also file a $5-million counter-suit against Air Canada. It alleges that private investigators working for Air Canada illegally seized confidential financial information from "recycling material" at Mark Hill's home in Oak Bay, B.C.
Hill is one of two WestJet employees named in Air Canada's claim that the discount carrier used a private Internet portal to access passenger traffic data.
"Hill states they trespassed on his private property to unlawfully seize WestJet documents that had been shredded and placed in a recycling container for pick up by municipal employees," said a statement released by WestJet late Tuesday.
"Air Canada then hired a Houston, Texas firm to reconstitute the shredded documents, which include WestJet's confidential and sensitive business and financial information unrelated to Air Canada's claim."
The documents, WestJet says, included financial statements, fleet planning documents, capital budgets, and even profit and loss statements.
Air Canada is calling WestJet's counter suit a "diversionary tactic."
In that suit, filed last April, Air Canada alleged WestJet had exploited the still-active access code of WestJet financial analyst Jeffrey Lafond.
Lafond is a former Canadian Airlines International employee.
Although Air Canada alleges the code was used to access the site more than 240,000 times over a nine-month period, WestJet's statement of defence will deny that the company used information from the site "for any purpose."
The company also contends the information on the employee site is actually publicly available from a number of sources, including "counting passengers and other public websites."