Woodford ends unfair dismissal fight with former firm Olympus
EX-OLYMPUS boss Michael Woodford has won a settlement, thought to be worth millions of pounds, from his disgraced former employer, camera maker Olympus.
The British businessman, 51, agreed a deal after a night of negotiations triggered when he took his unfair dismissal claim to a London employment tribunal.
It appears to end for Woodford a lengthy saga, which began when he was ousted as chief executive in October after querying suspect payments and included a failed bid to regain his old job. Yesterday Woodford said he hoped the agreement would bring “closure”.
“I am not at liberty, under the terms of the agreement, to go into any detail. But I genuinely hope that in the interests of Olympus, they can move forward and also that I can,” he added.
Directors of Olympus, a Japanese camera and endoscope maker, will be asked to rubber-stamp the settlement at a board meeting on 8 June.
The company had said Woodford, whose contract had 44 months to run, had failed to understand its management style but it has been mired in the $1.7bn accounting scandal for months.
An out-of-court settlement of Woodford’s case was widely expected after the tribunal was delayed on Monday for extra discussions among legal teams.
Woodford, who plans to publish a book in English about his experiences, said he would return to his seaside home in south eastern England. “I’m going sailing this afternoon,” he told his legal team.