The appellant appealed a trial judgment awarding damages to a former chief financial officer and consultant arising from a stock option plan.
The central issue was whether a termination provision ending options when the optionee ceased to be an employee applied to a participant who was found at trial to be a consultant rather than a true employee.
The court held that, on a fair reading of the plan as a whole, the terms 'employee' and 'eligible participant' were used interchangeably, so the termination provision applied to all persons granted options under the plan.
Because the respondent did not exercise his options before ending his relationship with the company, his rights under the option agreement had terminated.
The appeal was allowed, the trial judgment was set aside, and the action was dismissed with costs.
