TNT Express is taking legal action against former CEO Marie-Christine Lombard over her suddenmove to competitor Geodis to try to prevent her from working for the French express and logistics
group.Lombard resigned from TNT on September 24 this year, prompting supervisory board chairman AntonyBurgmans to criticise her sudden departure and claim she had broken her contract. She joinedSNCF-owned Geodis as the new CEO exactly one month later (October 24). News of the legal action wasreported today by several Dutch newspapers.
TNT spokesman Ernst Moeksis told CEP-Research today: “We can confirm that we have introducedlegal action against our former CEO and also against her new employer. We regard Geodis as acompetitor of TNT Express.”
Lombard’s contract with TNT Express included a worldwide “non-competition clause” preventing herfrom working for a competitor for 12 months after leaving the company unless she requested specificapproval from the company’s supervisory board, which she had not done, he explained. “That is whywe decided to take action in the interests of all our stakeholders,” he said.
A first hearing was held at a court in Harlem, The Netherlands, on November 16 and a second onNovember 20. The judge decided that the Dutch court could not make a decision, however, as the caseconcerned a French citizen living in France.
Asked whether TNT Express would now pursue legal proceedings in France, Moeksis said: “We willdo what is in the best interests of the company.”
Geodis did not immediately respond to a CEP-Research request for comment on the situation.Geodis is one of the leading express operators in France where it competes with TNT Express, LaPoste subsidiary Chronopost and other express companies.
In the announcement of her appointment as Geodis CEO, SNCF chairman Guillaume Pepy stated: “Thearrival of Marie-Christine Lombard at the SNCF group as Chief Executive Officer of Geodis willstrengthen the teams and ready Geodis for a new phase of profitable growth. She will place all herskills at the service of the Transport and Logistics Division.”
