From the Sault Evening News:
After six years of legal wrangling, political posturing and a one-week trial, a six-person jury in the 50th Circuit Court ruled that four employees were entitled to severance packages in the wake of former Tribal Chairman Bernard Bouschor’s defeat in the 2004 Sault Tribal election.
General Legal Counselor Daniel Green, Chief Financial Officer Dan Weaver, Deputy Legal Counsel James Jannetta and Human Resources Director David Scott were all fired by their employer, according to the jury’s verdict Wednesday evening.
In layman’s terms, the severance agreements are the equivalent of a football coach with a four-year contract being fired after going 3-13 in his first season; he would no longer be employed by the team, but would still receive payments for the life of the contract.
Had the jury ruled the four men — Green, Jannetta, Weaver and Scott — had quit, the employees could have been forced to pay back at least a portion of the money claimed in their severance package. Green walked away with a little over $500,000 while Weaver and Jannetta both cashed checks well over $400,000, while David Scott received approximately $350,000.
The jury also ruled that Bouschor had acted in the Sault Tribe’s benefit in entering into the severance agreements with the key employees and not his own, essentially exonerating the former tribal chairman.
While all four of them were considered to have fiduciary duties, the jury unanimously agreed that they did not knowingly participate in an enterprise or conspiracy by which Bouschor breached his fiduciary duty.
Turtle Talk 