In a case just made public, Canadian smartphone company BlackBerry sued Marineau-Mes for violating his contract, which stipulated that six months’ written notice was required before he was allowed to resign.  The executive’s attempt to leave is one of many resignations and terminations of BlackBerry's top employees in the past year.  The company said: “BlackBerry will not stand by while a former employee violates his employment contract.”

The verdict

Marineau-Mes became a BlackBerry executive VP last September and was approached by Apple in December.  He subsequently notified BlackBerry of his move to Apple with only two months’ notice, so when BlackBerry sued, the Ontario Superior Court ruled in favour of BlackBerry.  Marineau-Mes has been on paid leave since January, and will presumably join Apple once his remaining three months are up.  Source: Financial Times