Royal Laser Corporation has announced that it will seek leave to appeal, to the Supreme Court of Canada, the Ontario Court of Appeal's decision in the action relating to the termination of employment of Mr William Link, a former employee and shareholder of Venture Steel Inc.
VSI is a subsidiary of Royal Laser, and was acquired by Royal Laser on April 30th 2006. Prior to the purchase, the former owners of VSI terminated the employment of Link for alleged cause and purported to acquire his VSI shares for nominal consideration. In his Action, Mr Link claimed damages for wrongful dismissal and for the value of his shares.
In November 2008, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice awarded Mr Link approximately USD 550,000 in severance, as well as approximately USD 3.2 million for the value of his VSI shares, as the Court determined that Mr Link was a shareholder at the time of the VSI acquisition by Royal Laser. The Court also awarded Mr Link approximately USD 225,000 for the value of certain dividend entitlements and approximately USD 530,000 for the value of VSI options and warrants owned by Link at the time of the VSI acquisition by Royal Laser, as well as costs and interest.
VSI appealed the portion of the Court's decision relating to Link's share, dividend and severance entitlement to the Ontario Court of Appeal. The portion of the Court's decision related to the value of options and warrants owned at the time of the acquisition was not appealed. Royal Laser paid approximately USD 1.4 million to Mr Link following the Court's decision. In addition, the Company accrued a liability of approximately USD 3.8 million commencing in its Q3 Fiscal 2009 financial statements.
On March 1st 2010, the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned Mr Link's dividend entitlement but upheld his claim for the value of his VSI shares. VSI is seeking leave to appeal the Ontario Court of Appeal's decision relating to the claim for share value.
In addition, Royal Laser will seek to recover the approximately USD 3.2 million judgment from the prior owners of VSI.
