Counter offer City trader’s redundancy 'procedurally unfair', finds tribunal
6 December 2013
A Morgan Stanley trader, who was made redundant following negotiations for a counter offer after receiving another job offer, has failed in his employment tribunal attempt to recover £1m from his former employer.
Fri, 6 Dec 2013A Morgan Stanley trader, who was made redundant following negotiations for a counter offer after receiving another job offer, has failed in his employment tribunal attempt to recover £1m from his former employer.
According to the judgement handed down yesterday in the East London Employment Tribunal, Morgan Stanley had “orally agreed” to increase Benjamin Price’s remuneration and responsibilities in March 2010.
This would have been a counter offer against him leaving the company, with Price saying he was at this point “in advanced negotiations” about a job at rival Citibank in March 2010, the judgement reads.
Price accepted that he had not believed this agreement “gave rise to legal, as opposed to moral obligations” on the part of Morgan Stanley.
He also claims he was later denied a full bonus, and then unfairly dismissed for acting as a whistleblower in April 2012. However, it was found that his redundancy was fair.
During the hearing, Price agreed to drop the whistleblowing claim, and acknowledged that the reason his bonus was not as substantial as he would have liked is because rules governing the distribution of bonuses mean this is often the case for workers at risk of redundancy.
However, Morgan Stanley agreed that his dismissal was “procedurally unfair”, and agreed to pay the maximum compensatory award for ordinary unfair dismissal – just over £70k – “in full and final settlement of all of the claimant’s claims and potential claims”.
According to the judgement handed down yesterday in the East London Employment Tribunal, Morgan Stanley had “orally agreed” to increase Benjamin Price’s remuneration and responsibilities in March 2010.
This would have been a counter offer against him leaving the company, with Price saying he was at this point “in advanced negotiations” about a job at rival Citibank in March 2010, the judgement reads.
Price accepted that he had not believed this agreement “gave rise to legal, as opposed to moral obligations” on the part of Morgan Stanley.
He also claims he was later denied a full bonus, and then unfairly dismissed for acting as a whistleblower in April 2012. However, it was found that his redundancy was fair.
During the hearing, Price agreed to drop the whistleblowing claim, and acknowledged that the reason his bonus was not as substantial as he would have liked is because rules governing the distribution of bonuses mean this is often the case for workers at risk of redundancy.
However, Morgan Stanley agreed that his dismissal was “procedurally unfair”, and agreed to pay the maximum compensatory award for ordinary unfair dismissal – just over £70k – “in full and final settlement of all of the claimant’s claims and potential claims”.
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