Firms demand employee to pay compensation of Dhs25.5m

ABUDHABI: Investors owning a group of companies in Abu Dhabi filed a lawsuit demanding that an employee who worked with them as general manager of one of the group’s branches be required to pay them Dhs25,586,000 in compensation for discrediting their reputation.

In their lawsuit, the appellants affirmed that one of them agreed with the appellee to terminate his services for Dhs15,712,000 and that this setlement included his acknowledgment of receiving all his labour dues. It also included his commitment not to disclose the secrets of the group and its branches and not to offend them directly or indirectly.

They also indicated that the appellee filed a lawsuit before a European court in which he demanded that they be obligated to pay him Dhs111 million in compensation, claiming that he was forced to terminate the labour contract by threatening to harm his family.

The European Court had dismissed the employee’s claim for lack of jurisdiction.

The plaintiffs also indicated that they had incurred lawyers’ expenses, preparing advisory reports, travel tickets and translation expenses, in addition to the moral damage they had suffered as a result of harming their reputation and non-compliance of the employee with the terms of the setlement agreement concluded with him.

The Abu Dhabi Court for Family and Civil and Administrative Cases — First Degree — rejected the case of the investors who appealed the judgment.

The Court of Appeal ruled that there was no international jurisdiction, so they appealed against the ruling again, noting that the employment termination agreement was within the UAE, and that the damages they incurred happened in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

The Abu Dhabi Court of Cassation overturned the ruling and obligated the employee to pay fees, expenses and lawyer’s fees, and referred the case to the Court of Appeal for reconsideration.

In July this year, the Abu Dhabi Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling by the Court of First Instance that obligated an accountant to pay Dhs788,000 to his employer, ater he embezzled Dhs738,000 from the company, and was convicted according to a criminal ruling that sentenced him to one year in prison.