LILLEY: Loretta Rogers Says Her Son Isn’t Telling The Truth In The Battle Of Rogers

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Did Ed Rogers try to trick his own mother in an attempt to take control of the family business?

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That’s what he said in response to documents filed in court Tuesday as part of the ongoing drama surrounding one of Canada’s largest communications companies.

Ed Rogers filed documents in Vancouver, including a series of affidavits in which he claims his mother and other board members supported his desire to fire current Rogers Communications CEO Joe Natale.

“My mother Loretta and my sister Martha, in particular, expressed the strong opinion that Mr. Natale had had more than four years to prove his worth and that it was time for a change,” Ed Rogers said in one of the affidavits. .

Rogers also claims there was a 10-to-1 vote to remove Natale as the CEO and give him a retirement package during a September 24 board meeting. All of that is disputed by other players involved, including Ed Rogers’ mother, Loretta, her sister, Melinda Rogers-Hixon, and the current chairman of the company’s board, John A. MacDonald.

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In a statement, Loretta Rogers said her son’s claims are “as unfortunate as they are false.” She added that her son incited her to fire Natale by giving her a statement to read.

“Edward knows those words, because he wrote them for me,” Rogers said.

She described how Ed and his boardmate Alan Horn gave her incomplete information about Natale’s performance.

“I regret that I was unable to validate that data with RCI’s independent directors prior to submitting the statement. However, as soon as I was able to converse with independents and develop a more complete and unbiased perspective on the issue, I changed course, ”said Rogers.

Melinda Rogers-Hixon in a separate statement accused her brother of using their mother to promote a false narrative.

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“Loretta, Martha and I support Joe, his management team, the 24,000 employees, and our customers and fans to ensure proper governance is in place, in accordance with the law and our father’s wishes,” said Rogers-Hixon.

Regarding the claim that the board supported the replacement of Natale on a 10-1 vote, current board chairman John A. MacDonald said in a statement that this never happened.

“At no point did the majority of the board vote to remove Joe Natale as CEO of Rogers Communications,” MacDonald said.

MacDonald’s position as chairman of the board has been in dispute since a meeting Sunday when Ed Rogers fired MacDonald and several other board members and appointed his own directors while he was reappointed as chairman. These movements and the family dispute are part of the legal battle that will take place to decide who controls the future of the company.

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Ed Rogers has a history of clashing with executives from companies his family controls, including former Blue Jays president and CEO Paul Beeston and former CEOs of Rogers Communications.

Rogers owns a 37.5% stake in the Toronto Raptors and it was Ed Rogers who fought to get rid of the team’s president, Masai Ujuri, while other partners wanted to keep him.

Ed Rogers is asking a judge to affirm him as chairman of the board and his elected replacements as the actual board. Rogers Communications has declined to recognize Ed Rogers as chairman of the board or his new nominees as members of the company’s governing body.