NASCAR team Michael Waltrip Racing has commenced legal action against the famous Formula One British outfit Williams and Mike Coughlan. After losing his job as McLaren chief designer and departing Formula One amid the Singapore 'spygate' scandal, Briton Coughlan joined North Carolina based MWR as director of vehicle design. He then returned to Formula 1 in June to be Williams' new chief engineer. According to the Charlotte Observer, Michael Waltrip Racing has filed suit against Coughlan and Williams in the US District Court for breach of contract. The report said Coughlan had joined MWR with a three year deal set to run through 2012. The suit reportedly alleges his move "harmed the performance of the MWR teams as well as their viability in competing for sponsorship", and seeks damages in excess of $75,000 and other compensation. Another report on the NASCAR website said the suit alleges Oxfordshire based Williams "tortuously interfered" with MWR "by negotiating to hire Coughlan while he was still under contract". http://www.f1sa.com/index.php?optio...-designer-mike-coughlan&catid=1:f1&Itemid=157
Hmm… it will be interesting to see how this develops won't it? Anyone who breaches a contract should expect to have to 'coughlan up' with appropriate compensation. I am sure Williams' top management will have been aware of the situation and budgeted for some kind of settlement out of court. However, settlements are normally arrived at before it reaches this stage, so perhaps things were less than clear; or perhaps they underestimated Waltrip; or perhaps they simply misjudged it!
My knowledge of the legal system is somewhat limited, but why are Williams being sued, and not just Coughlan? It's not illegal (to my knowledge) to talk to someone else's employee about working for you (Williams), so in my mind they haven't broken any law there, and how do you define "tortuously interfered" exactly, so as to decide a fair amount of compensation in court? I don't feel that Waltrip really have a leg to stand on with that one. I hope Williams don't end up getting ripped off by settling out of court, because Waltrip could potentially ask for a lot of money. Coughlan can be sued for breach of contract, but he must have been aware of the implications before he joined Williams, so I'd imagine has a contingency plan in place. Very interesting to see how this one plays out.
I read about this earlier, and I didn't see any mention of Williams saying anything in defence, so in my opinion, it looks like Coughlan has gone to Williams and asked for a job as soon as he's allowed back in F1, without telling Williams about this 'breach of contract'. I don't see how this could hurt the NASCAR team. It's a team, 1 person isn't gunna bring them fame and fortune. And anyway, what skill is there in NASCAR anyway?
'Coughlan up'! I expect a grovelling apology to all users put on a sticky for a week for that one Cosi.
If anyone on here happens to be a legal eagle, the legal papers are available here. Anyone capable of making much sense of them? From what I can gather, tortuous interference is apparently a well-defined crime, which you can be sued for, so I was wrong on that front, but can anyone else determine whether MWR have a leg to stand on? Especially with respect to the claims against Williams?
Guilty as charged officer Miggins! I'll cough-up to the crime⦠Sorry and, since I seem to be a repeat offender: sorry againâ¦
I'm no expert and I've not yet read your link Canary. But I am sure that there is usually more to these things than meets the eye, or indeed those who mediate any such process of communication, as doubtless the doubters are now discovering with Murdoch. I predict that I may need to edit this in less than 5 minutes…
