SASKATOON – A very public family feud continues among the ruling family of Saskatchewan pork processing.
Fred Mitchell is suing his brother, sister, mother and the family company for allegedly forcing him out of his job as president and chief executive officer of Intercontinental Packers Ltd.
Chip Mitchell, who now runs the company, also known as Intercon, says his family is upset by the lawsuits, but “I think you will find my mother, my sister and myself will come out unblemished.”
And Chip said it wasn’t the rest of the family trying to take power from Fred, as suggested in court documents filed by his brother, but the reverse.
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“A few months after (my mother) had open heart surgery and my father died, he kept pushing to get control from her and she wasn’t about to do it,” Chip Mitchell said. “She’s not going anywhere, she’s still alive and doing quite well.”
The family plans to launch a countersuit against Fred Mitchell, Chip Mitchell said.
Fred, the long-time head of the Saskatoon slaughter and meat processing company, launched a lawsuit March 5, alleging constructive dismissal, and is suing for damages.
Taken advantage of
He followed that suit with a further suit on March 20 accusing his relatives of taking advantage of his severe physical problems in the late 1980s to force him to agree to restructuring the company.
His brother, sister and mother are expected to file statements of defence later.
The first statement of claim says the three defendants “acted in concert” to force the company to strip Fred Mitchell of his ability to act as president and CEO “to create opportunities for the defendants Johanna Mitchell, Camille Mitchell and Charles (Chip) Mitchell to assume greater responsibility in the management and business affairs” of the company.
The second suit alleges Johanna, Camille and Charles took advantage of Fred’s physical problems that arose after he was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis and given five years to live.
It says when the family wanted to reorganize the company and he refused to agree, all three defendants “exerted a tremendous amount of pressure, duress and influence upon the plaintiff, in order to persuade the plaintiff to sign the necessary documents and to authorize or agree to the transactions necessary to carry out the trust re-organization plan.”
The suit says Fred reluctantly agreed to the plan in November 1987, because of the pressure put on him.
The second suit asks the court to overturn the reorganization.
Fred Mitchell received a heart and double lung transplant in 1990 and has now recovered.
He began working part time at the plant in 1965, when he was a university student. When company founder Fred Mendel, Fred and Chip’s grandfather, died in 1976, Fred Mitchell became president. In 1983 he was appointed chief executive officer.
Chip Mitchell said the family has been badly divided by the suits.
“The whole family had him on a pedestal. We all adored him. He was like God. Fred could do no wrong,” he said.
“Hopefully something can be worked out, but there’s a lot of hurt right now.”
