This revelation appears to directly contradict what Premier Dwight Ball told the House of Assembly on Tuesday of this week.
Related story:
Ball reveals Martin was sacked after he quit
Martin quit his post as CEO of the province’s energy corporation last month, but after he announced his resignation, the board of directors opted to terminate him without cause.
In so doing, the board awarded him a $1.4 million severance package.
“They sought legal opinion about the termination without cause of Mr. Martin,” Ball said in the House of Assembly on Tuesday. “It was then that they based their decision, as I understand it, to put in place a severance package.”
This is a statement he repeated more than once.
“What happened is the former board of directors of Nalcor made a decision without cause after he stepped aside,” Ball said. “They made this decision. They sought a legal opinion on this.”
But the Telegram contacted Nalcor Energy and requested to see a copy of that legal opinion.
“Regarding your request on the legal opinion, no written legal opinion was provided to the former Board of Directors,” Nalcor spokeswoman Karen O’Neill said in an email.
The entire board of directors announced their resignation on the same day that Martin announced he was leaving, shortly after they approved his severance.
Ball has said the Department of Justice is now looking into all of this.
Twitter: TelegramJames
