Mr Martin Leach, the former head of Ford of Europe, is suing the US car manufacturer for up to €60 million, alleging the company wrongly announced he had resigned and then prevented him working for a competitor.
In court documents filed yesterday in Michigan, Mr Leach said Ford had been trying to "push him out" of his job as president and chief operating officer of the European division.
He is asking for compensation for being blocked from taking over the car division of Italian automotive group Fiat plus exemplary damages. The Fiat job is understood to have been worth €20 million in signing bonus and salary over the first five years. Exemplary damages could multiply that by three.
The legal action confirms earlier rumours of management turmoil inside Ford, with Mr Leach alleging he was locked out of key meetings and had his credibility questioned by senior executives.
In March, Sir Nick Scheele, group chief operating officer, took the unusual step of e-mailing all senior staff to deny "scurrilous" suggestions that he had fallen out with Mr David Thursfield, head of international operations.
In the court documents, Mr Leach says that, after realising Ford wanted to oust him, he discussed the Fiat job offer with Mr Thursfield and the head of human resources, and said he was happy to leave if they would release him from a non-compete agreement.
The next day, he claims, Mr Thursfield said he "assumed" that Mr Leach had resigned, and released a press statement announcing that Mr Leach had left the company.
Ford threatened Mr Leach and Fiat with legal action if he accepted the offered job, leading to the appointment of Mr Herbert Demel, a former Volkswagen executive, to head Fiat Auto.
Shortly before Mr Leach left in August, Ford of Europe announced it had lost $525 million (€440 million) in the second quarter of this year. Since then it has issued a further profit warning and cut 6,700 jobs in the UK, Belgium and Germany.
Mr Tom Hathaway, president of Brady Hathaway Brady & Bretz, Mr Leach's lawyers, said he was hoping to get a preliminary injunction within a fortnight to stop Ford enforcing its non- compete rule.
Ford said: "We don't comment on pending litigation."
- (Financial Times Service)
