The Cayman based office of Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) – the regional football association, has been slapped with a lawsuit by a woman who was employed as head of International Affairs.
In a lawsuit filed at the end of December, Lerina Bright claims she was forced out of her job after she was placed on leave following the arrest of former boss Jeffrey Webb in Zurich in connection with the corruption probe into FIFA – football’s global governing body.
Claiming she was made to appear guilty by association, Bright is also seeking damages for working with dishonest people.
In the lawsuit Bright, a sports administrator with eight years experience reveals how she was told in a letter that her post was among the jobs under scrutiny as part of the CONCACAF review in the wake of the arrests in Switzerland.
Bright claims that on the same day as the arrests were made in Switzerland, Dr Laila Mintas, CONCACAF Director of Sports Integrity, announced to other staff that Bright and two other employees had been sent home because investigations were underway into their roles in the case relating to Jeffrey Webb.
The suit states that Bright was then denied access to her place of work, computer, emails, cell phone and corporate bank accounts and was interviewed by CONCACAF lawyers a few days later.
In September Bright received another request for a meeting with lawyers but this time she requested that the questions be put in writing and warned that CONCACAF was in breach of her contract. She then received a letter threatening to sack her if she did not show up for the interview.
In November Bright’s lawyer wrote to CONCACAF and stated that unless the association provided work for his client by November 13, she would consider the contract at an end.
Bright claims that the way she was treated by CONCACAF was designed to make her working life intolerable and damage or destroy the relationship of trust and confidence.
