Termination for breach of confidentiality
Hi,
I was working as a COO-India operations at a Sec 8 company in India. We have our registered office in Delhi. I used to report to the South Asia CEO. We have our global HQ in Singapore and that has no legal relationship with the Indian company.
On a call with the Global CEO from Singapore earlier this month, I was told about a few disappointments that the HQ had about the performance of the India team and was critical of the 'leadership' in India. The Global CEO said the HQ is going to take some harsh decision wrt 'India leadership' and I was being told about this in confidence. All this happened on a zoom call.
Since the conversation was repeatedly pointing to 'India leadership', I thought me or/ and my South Asia CEO are the target and as a regular protocol shared the gist of the call with the South Asia CEO (my reporting manager; she had discussed about her plans to quit the job a few weeks ago). After a few days after my conversation, my South Asia CEO asked me to share the gist of the discussions on whatsapp with her as it would help her in drafting her resignation. Thereafter, she has sent in her resignation letter to the global CEO. In a call with the Global CEO thereafter, the South Asia CEO has revealed that I have shared the above details with her and she has even shared my whatsapp messages.
After couple of days, the South Asia CEO sent me a termination letter stating I was removed from my position of COO-India Operations with immediate effect as per the confidentiality clause in the employment contract. It said that the reason for termination is the disclosure of confidential information shared by the Global CEO on a zoom call.
I would like to know:
1. If I have breached any confidentiality clause as the conversation never mentioned that it was about the 'South Asia CEO' or about me; it said about 'India Leadership' which comprises of me and my South Asia CEO as per HQ.
2. If I have a strong case to challenge the decision of termination.
Subsequently, as I have to pursue other jobs, I requested my South Asia CEO if I can resign and they could relieve me so that I can use the same to pursue future opportunities. I have sent my resignation and they have accepted the same by waiving my notice period requirements.