Nestlé-Laurent Freixe dispute – overview
- Former Nestlé CEO, Laurent Freixe, challenges dismissal over relationship breach
- Freixe claims firing damaged his reputation and career prospects after decades service
- Nestlé cited code of conduct violations, denying severance after September dismissal
Former Nestlé CEO, Laurent Freixe, is seeking to recover a bonus and unvested shares following his dismissal from the food and beverage giant, according to Bloomberg reports.
Freixe, 64, was fired from his role as CEO in September last year, following “an undisclosed romantic relationship with a direct subordinate“, having held the post for just 12 months.
At the time, Nestlé said Freixe would receive no severance package due to “violations of the company’s code of conduct”.
Now, nine months later he is reportedly in pre-litigation settlement talks with the Swiss multinational where he worked for 39 years, saying the dismissal unfairly damaged his reputation and ability to pursue his career.
“Mr Laurent Freixe disputes both the grounds and the manner of his dismissal,” said a source close to him. “After nearly forty years of unfailing service, he was removed without being heard and stripped of compensation he had legitimately earned, a punitive process that has unfairly damaged his reputation and his ability to pursue his career. Mr Freixe has brought the matter before the competent court to assert his rights and to obtain redress.”
Nestlé has declined request for comment.
