Bpost has paid ex-CEO Jean-Paul Van Avermaet a severance payment in the context of an amicable settlement, after the latter had sued the postal company. This was confirmed by Postal Minister Petra De Sutter in the House on Thursday. De Sutter regrets that and insists on additional clauses in the contract with the new bpost boss yet to be appointed.
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Jean-Paul Van Avermaet was fired as CEO of bpost in March. The man is suspected of prohibited price fixing with his previous employer G4S and must appear in court in the US for this. There has been dissatisfaction about Van Avermaet’s performance for some time. For example, bpost’s stock price fell under his policy, while most other postal companies did well.
De Standaard revealed earlier this week that Van Avermaet received half a million euros in severance pay after his departure. Minister Petra De Sutter (Green) confirmed in the House on Thursday after questions from Maria Vindevoghel (PVDA) and Nathalie Dewulf (Vlaams Belang) that the ex-CEO indeed received a severance payment. This happened after Van Avermaet summoned bpost a good month after his dismissal, on April 19. After careful consideration and legal advice, the then board of directors of bpost decided to enter into an amicable settlement, which was signed on June 10, according to De Sutter.
“Deplorable”
The postal company did so “to close a lawsuit and, in their view, to protect the company as best as possible so that the new board of directors and CEO would no longer be burdened by it,” said De Sutter. But she called the amicable settlement “deplorable”. “Every day, thousands of postmen and other employees give their best. For them, and also for me, this story has a bitter aftertaste.”
The new CEO has not yet been found, but De Sutter insists that clauses be included in the new contract to better protect the company. This can be done, for example, by having the CEO declare that no investigations or disputes have been brought against him or her at the time of signing the contract, the minister said. The headhunt office involved in the search for a new postal manager – a different office than the one involved in Van Avermaet’s appointment – has urged a thorough analysis of the candidates and an extensive screening and background check of the top candidates, “to not having to deal with these kinds of scenarios anymore.”
The Groen Deputy Prime Minister could not say how much exactly Van Avermaet earned. Bpost is publicly traded, and the company is contractually bound to secrecy for everything related to the amicable settlement, she said. De Standaard talked about half a million euros. “That amount will be made public in the 2021 remuneration report,” said De Sutter. “But it’s a compromise: he claimed a much higher amount.” The sum “corresponds to a termination fee as stated in the contract and has since been paid out”, it still sounded.
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