Michael Waltrip Racing is suing Mike Coughlan for alleged breach of contract and Williams F1 for interference with a contract. The law suits come after Coughlan decided to join Williams. He had previously worked at MWR in NASCAR since October 2010. He had a two-year contract with MWR having a one year option.
Coughlan was a former McLaren engineer who was fired in 2007 and suspended by Formula One for two years when he was found to be in possession of confidential documents belonging to Ferrari. The team was fined $100 million.
I guess the guys in the US aren’t accustomed to contracts meaning next to nothing like in F1.
Well he must have known he had a contract and when it ended and what the exit clauses were, so presumably he knew he was breaking it. If Williams had said, don’t worry we will get you out of the MWR contract then they are liable too.
On the other hand maybe MWR “constructed” events restrictions or conditions that were “unreasonable” and caused Mike to leave.
One always wonders what the fine would have been, had things been the other way round, would Ferrari have been fined at all?
Not again…
I hope he’s not returning to F1 with a briefcase full of the latest carburettor tweaking knowhow.
this is where you’d say something along the lines of ” how very american of them”… but then you would get a barrage of americans protesting about the stereotyping… so i’ll just do it for you…
Never break a contract in the US!
Apparently contracts only apply when I’m trying to get a new mobile phone.
But US corps hire and fire at will with scant regard to their employees. For that alone, i bid them an up yours, on principle.
That said, please, someone take this as an opportunity to say Coughlan misrepresented, and tear up his contract.
I just read a sympathetic and well considered article in The Telegraph, how Murdoch may have lost his way, having started very young (22) and relied on much senior advice most all of his career, only to be caught out by misplaced paternal concerns for wrong-un underlings. I can personally level with that. Very strange things go on in a man’s mind, concerning a lifelong business. Point being, will Patrick (or whoever, but thinking style) *please* inject some cold logic into this. We need reminding less, about bad apples, with the News Int. saga – cough – multi faceted vendetta – splutter – mafia war.
Gareth,
with turn of phrase like that, you should get a commission from the attorneys! Or the Department of Trade, sorry burr or burgh or blur or bleagh or BERR or whatever. Reminds me of them impounding 959s for emissions. WTF?
rpaco,
“If Williams had said, don’t worry we will get you out of the MWR contract then they are liable too.”
is more worrying. Foreign interference, Protectionism, and all that. They’ll accuse Coughlan of stealing national secrets, like how to sell a motorsport . .
– j
You have to wonder what one of Williams’ major sponsors, the Global Staffing and Recruitment company, Randstad, says about being associated with a team who can’t seem to follow correct procedure in the hiring of a new employee. Not smart.
He will get his day in court, here in the US, which is something I cannot say about EU and various national European country laws.
I’m all for Waltrip.
Most of the stories you hear about Americans suing one another comes from the tabloid press, most notably, R.P.’s empire. Actually, suing one another for any reason is mainly a Southern California thing, which includes L.A. and Hollywood. It’s like racing tyres; you only hear about them when they go wrong. There is a great deal of the U.S. that is not part of SoCal, where I don’t think people sue one another any more than what happens in the UK, France, or Italy. People are entitled to their opinions, but that doesn’t mean they are based on correct assumptions.