Former Ottawa Senators executive sues Melnyk, team for $1.55M

[jason2020]

I would like Melnyk to sell the team and maybe have a new way of doing things... but who in their right mind would buy this business? There's a ton more profitable business out there. This franchise is stuck between Toronto, Montreal and New York and has a very weak fanbase as a result. How do you grow the business as direct competition has money and people to accentuate the growth?

With Ford coming to Ottawa maybe you will see more and more major companys coming to town which would help.

 

[branch]

Really feeling Denis Potvin's posts in this thread. If you suck at your job then expect to be canned.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

I hate Melynk with a passion, easily the worst owner in the league, only Norm Green is worse than him historically. That being said, I have to agree with DUD, if you suck at your job, you deserve to be fired. Anyone who was involved in the marketing in this team, should be fired, easily the worst marketing in the league. I've never seen a team this out of touch with reality.

 

[jason2020]

I hate Melynk with a passion, easily the worst owner in the league, only Norm Green is worse than him historically. That being said, I have to agree with DUD, if you suck at your job, you deserve to be fired. Anyone who was involved in the marketing in this team, should be fired, easily the worst marketing in the league. I've never seen a team this out of touch with reality.

I would not say he is the worse not even close.

 

[Mingus Dew]

Really feeling Denis Potvin's posts in this thread. If you suck at your job then expect to be canned.

Unfortunately it's way more complicated than this at the executive level.

These guys have intricate employment contracts and entitlements arising from that. Terrible executives get rich all the time haha.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Euge can be a bit of a clown but this is what many have been calling for....the marketing has been sub par and this is the person leading that ship.

This is one side of the story and more will emerge but generally like has been said if you suck at your job then you get the door.

I also clean my own desk and empty the garbage both at my workplace and at home.

Outside of the burglar run it seems its been 1 bad story after another for like 10 years

 

[Mingus Dew]

If dude sucks at his job then you let him go without breaching the contract and that's that. If, for example, it was stipulated that 24 months notice of termination was to be provided in the circumstances and you only give 1 month, you don't get to say "yeah but he was bad at his job" (unless there is a clause in the contract that lets you say that).

It's all speculation at this point anyhow. My knowledge of employment law is pretty shallow, but I'm fairly sure there is statute in play as well. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[ekarlsson65]

I see where you're coming from, but as the CMO, you are ultimately in charge of finding a solution. If you can't come up with any, you don't deserve to have that title or position. I mean why would you pay someone that much money if they don't have any good ideas for the plebs to carry out?

I agree with you. Wouldn't it be on Eugene to look at other teams (or he could hire a consultant?) and see how their marketing makes them successful, if he began to notice he was losing $ and the CMO was not producing results after X amount of seasons? I have no issue with the CMO being terminated, but it's how the process played out that's troubling.

 

[PeterSidorkiewicz]

I am not a Melnyk fan, he has like the complete opposite personality as me and as an complete outsider he doesn't seem like a great guy to work for, but to eco Dennis sentiments, the marketing for the Sens sucked. It is THE, or one of the worst in the league.

I think the results of their marketing speak for themselves, so I have no qualms about this guy getting canned. An abusive work environment should not be allowed to continue if true, though.

 

[Rand0m]

Literally no one here and that I know, thought that the Sens marketing was good, ticket sales were poor as well. If this guy's sole responsibility was marketing and ticket sales then he's extremely incompetent and needed to go. If Leeder kept giving him glowing reviews, then clearly he had to go as well.

That said, whatever was stipulated in the contract should be honoured. This article only explains the plaintifs side of the story so who knows what the real story is and maybe most of this is just because the guy was embarrassed and hates Melnyk because he fired him. These people don't have discussions, they have lawsuits.

 

[Uchiha]

Sure, marketing was awful but the one ice product was **** also. Why not fire people in hockey operations and stop being mediocre?

 

[jason2020]

Sure, marketing was awful but the one ice product was **** also. Why not fire people in hockey operations and stop being mediocre?

Its called a rebuild.

 

[CDN24]

I hate Melynk with a passion, easily the worst owner in the league, only Norm Green is worse than him historically. That being said, I have to agree with DUD, if you suck at your job, you deserve to be fired. Anyone who was involved in the marketing in this team, should be fired, easily the worst marketing in the league. I've never seen a team this out of touch with reality.

I agree completely. That said did he suck at his job or was he not given the tools to succeed? Did he do the things that led to a drop in ticket sales. Did he put together the team that sucked last year? Did he **** off the fans by disrespecting the captain Alfie a couple of years ago. Did he publicly throw a coach under the bus? Did he complain about habs/leafs fans coming to sens games a couple of years ago?

Someone is not performing you can fire them and pay whatever severance you want
in accordance with their terms and conditions of employment. Nickle and dimeing over a $20K bonus already paid is pointless. Saying that if he does not repay it he will be fired for cause is wrong. Cause is not doing your job. If the bonus was approved in error disipline the guy who approved/paid it. This won't be the last lawsuit it seems others fired will be suing as well. Reminds me of the president of our great country to the south. IS EM on twitter?

 

[BK201]

I don't know why anybody is taking sides both sides suck ass.

 

[jason2020]

I agree completely. That said did he suck at his job or was he not given the tools to succeed? Did he do the things that led to a drop in ticket sales. Did he put together the team that sucked last year? Did he **** off the fans by disrespecting the captain Alfie a couple of years ago. Did he publicly throw a coach under the bus? Did he complain about habs/leafs fans coming to sens games a couple of years ago?

Someone is not performing you can fire them and pay whatever severance you want
in accordance with their terms and conditions of employment. Nickle and dimeing over a $20K bonus already paid is pointless. Saying that if he does not repay it he will be fired for cause is wrong. Cause is not doing your job. If the bonus was approved in error disipline the guy who approved/paid it. This won't be the last lawsuit it seems others fired will be suing as well. Reminds me of the president of our great country to the south. IS EM on twitter?

As for Alfie that claim was made up by a Toronto blogger which turns out had no truth to it as for Leaf/Habs fans that was because Sens fans said we will not go to games unless something changed which those fans came.

 

[LatteLarrys]

$700,000 in damages.. that's a lawyer trying to get a big paycheck.

I have no issue with Melnyk being forced to pay him out what he is owed due to contract termination, bonuses he is owed, etc. But the rest.. not so much.

I couldn't form a strong opinion on most of the dmg claims based on the info available. However, even in the best case scenario, the lawyers are certainly reaching for the moon when they claim 500k in punitive dmgs. Well, that is unless it's conceivable that the compensatory dmgs (and dmgs for bad faith dismissal) being pursued here could not respond to how bad the employer's conduct was, which, even if the alleged facts are all true, would be extremely surprising to say the least.

Someone is not performing you can fire them and pay whatever severance you want in accordance with their terms and conditions of employment.

And in accordance with minimum employment standards if they're entitled to a minimum amount of severance (technically speaking--I'm not saying it's the case here).

 

[MiscBrah]

Keep in mind this is just a statement of claim. It's easy to tell a good story when you're the only one speaking.

Will be interesting to see what comes of it. They'll probably settle.

 

[SPF6ty9]

For most owners, a lawsuit filed against them would be their biggest story of the season, for Melnyk, it was Tuesday (or Thursday)

Tune in next week when Melnyk attempts to pay our players in Bison dollars.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

I'm sure this thread will provide a great platform for Melnyk complainers.

Personally, the guy sucked as his job and I think he is sour that he got fired. Not every billionaire is Richard Branson or Hank Scorpio. Not every boss is nice. But you get paid $300k a year, you can find a way to work with a crass, arrogant man, especially when woefully underperforming at your job.

This guy was in charge of sales and marketing? Sens Army, Young and Hungry, United in Red, Light a Mup (the marketing ad that that only ended up working because of a pun), the radio and TV ads.. the guy was lucky he held onto his job for as long as he did.

He received strong performance reviews from Leeder? Then I'm glad they both got the boot.

And god forbid you have to empty your own office garbage can.

Sounds like this guy couldn't take the heat of working closely with a Billionaire that demands results. If I was Melnyk, I'd be pissed off at the "Chief Marketing Officer" too. Melnyk called into question O'Leary's competency and I think that's fine because I doubt he had any.

I had to quote this. If he was getting glowing reviews from Leeder then you're right that I'm glad he's gone too. Maybe he worked hard and long hours but that only goes so far.

The marketing for this team has to be some of the worst, most bush league garbage I've ever seen for a Pro sports team I follow. It's like its run by a bunch of out of touch 80 year olds trying to appeal to young people.

 

[Kellogs]

I don't know why anybody is taking sides both sides suck ass.

Pretty much this.

Let's be honest here. Sens marketing has been terrible for a long time (SNES jersey, insistence on maintaining current jersey and logo, the overweight Spartan to name a few).

The one constant throughout all of this has been Melnyk. Ultimately, it starts at the top, and unless Melnyk sells the team, or takes a more hands off approach with managing the team, things are just going to continue as is.

The lawsuit is an interesting look into the organization and 'confirms' what many people already suspected about Melnyk behind the scenes.

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

I think the fact that the budget became so public has also brought a negative atmosphere to the club. I wouldn't be surprised if ticket sales were down partly because the budget.

 

[DrunkUncleDenis]

I had to quote this. If he was getting glowing reviews from Leeder then you're right that I'm glad he's gone too. Maybe he worked hard and long hours but that only goes so far.

The marketing for this team has to be some of the worst, most bush league garbage I've ever seen for a Pro sports team I follow. It's like its run by a bunch of out of touch 80 year olds trying to appeal to young people.

 

[Karl Eriksson56]

With an arena in a suburb, selling tickets isn't the easiest job to be fair; but if you get unlawfully fired by a boss who treated you like **** why not sue??

 

[jason2020]

I think the fact that the budget became so public has also brought a negative atmosphere to the club. I wouldn't be surprised if ticket sales were down partly because the budget.

Most fans don't care about the budget example if you went into the market and asked if the budget keeping you away less then 10% would say yes.

 

[jason2020]

Pretty much this.

Let's be honest here. Sens marketing has been terrible for a long time (SNES jersey, insistence on maintaining current jersey and logo, the overweight Spartan to name a few).

The one constant throughout all of this has been Melnyk. Ultimately, it starts at the top, and unless Melnyk sells the team, or takes a more hands off approach with managing the team, things are just going to continue as is.

The lawsuit is an interesting look into the organization and 'confirms' what many people already suspected about Melnyk behind the scenes.

These types of lawsuits happen all the time even the feds are dealing with countless issues like this very one.