A former executive for Canadian company RIM (now known as BlackBerry), has allegedly been deported from Canada after being fired from his high-level position within the company for an outburst on an airplane.
In 2011, George Campbell and vice president Paul Wilson were on a place from Toronto to Beijing and ended up having to be restrained on the flight after a drunken outburst that forced the plane to land in Vancouver. After two days in custody the pair were fired and ordered to pay restitution to the airline to the tune of almost $40,000. This restitution covers the costs of extra fuel and vouchers given to others aboard the plane, who had to be accommodated for the disruption.
Executive was on a work permit at the time of firing
George Campbell is originally from Scotland, as was Paul Wilson. Campbell was in Canada on a work permit and had no criminal record, but his firing resulted in deportation from Canada.
While Wilson was also fired, he is a permanent resident of Canada and was able to remain in the country. According to the B.C. Court of Appeal, Campbell was able to return to a job in Scotland that was similar to his Canadian job after being deported.
According to the court documents, the men were acting “unruly and belligerent, yelling and swearing at passengers and crew alike.”
A member of the flight crew was pushed, one of the flight attendants had to take stress leave after the incident, and the captain had said he’d never seen anything like it after flying for almost 40 years.
President & CEO
Michael Niren
Mr. Niren is CEO of VisaPlace LLC and the President and Managing Partner of VisaPlace Legal Canada, an immigration law firm based in Toronto, and VisaPlace Legal US a law firm registered in The District of Columbia, USA. Mr. Niren is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship and Immigration Section, American Lawyers Association, and an Associate Member of the American Bar Association.
