Bankers ready to sue if bonuses too small

[editor]

Words fail me.

A growing number of bankers are considering suing their employer if they do not get the bonus they think they deserve this year, according to City employment lawyers.

City lawyers said an increasing number of bankers were building cases in preparation of lower bonus payouts and were prepared to fight it out in court.

British banks should brace themselves for claims from "disgruntled" bankers who will not roll over and accept lower bonuses than usual despite the huge public and shareholder backlash against out-of-control pay, legal experts have warned.

One claim for £1.5m is understood to have already made its way into the system last year, after a banker believed their 2011 bonus was too low.

The case is believed to have been rejected before it got to court, with lawyers acting for the bank branding the claim "whimsical".

Judges are also said to be unsympathetic towards bankers' claims that their bonuses are too small in the current climate.

However, City lawyers said an increasing number of bankers were building cases in preparation of lower bonus payouts and were prepared to fight it out at court.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...ankers-ready-to-sue-if-bonuses-too-small.html

 

[stuff_it]

 

[DotCommunist]

problem is, if its in their contracts that certain performance merits x bonus then it is in their contracts. Far be it for me to defend the troughing city boys but a contract is a contract in the eyes of a court. So they'll have a case, unless i'm confused

 

[butchersapron]

Kingsley Napley and Eversheds trying to drum up business and tame journos put it out as news.

 

[stuff_it]

problem is, if its in their contracts that certain performance merits x bonus then it is in their contracts. Far be it for me to defend the troughing city boys but a contract is a contract in the eyes of a court. So they'll have a case, unless i'm confused

Doesn't that mean they have to pay us money though? They have after all fucked the economy up royally.

 

[butchersapron]

Contracts are challenged all the time. They're not sacrosanct, not even in law.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Contracts are challenged all the time. They're not sacrosanct, not even in law.

Indeed, and I would think that you could make a case for saying that the terms of any contract with a bank that subsequently received govt money could be challenged.

 

[Roadkill]

Let 'em sue if they want. Whether or not they win, they'll just make themselves even more unpopular than they already are.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Contracts are challenged all the time. They're not sacrosanct, not even in law.

Of course not, but it does provide a wedge whereby if the bankers can establish a case in law, they get weighed their wedge regardless of mass moral repugnance.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Let 'em sue if they want. Whether or not they win, they'll just make themselves even more unpopular than they already are.

Sounds like a plan!

 

[poisondwarf]

problem is, if its in their contracts that certain performance merits x bonus then it is in their contracts. Far be it for me to defend the troughing city boys but a contract is a contract in the eyes of a court. So they'll have a case, unless i'm confused

By the same token then, the public service workers who had a contract should sue too.

 

[DotCommunist]

By the same token then, the public service workers who had a contract should sue too.

hah! They gave my old dear 3 grand and a 'don't let the door hit your arse on the way out'. For six years of employment.

Then unison chiefs lost the bottle as well. Don't get me started...

 

[oryx]

One claim for £1.5m is understood to have already made its way into the system last year, after a banker believed their 2011 bonus was too low.

Yeah, definitely all in this together!

 

[Yelkcub]

Race to the bottom?

 

[Bernie Gunther]

Possibly an opportunity for Shiny Dave to posture toughness?

 

[A Dashing Blade]

Unless it's guarenteed, there's always a clause in the contract to the effect that the bonus is "awarded" at the absolute discretion of the employer.

 

[KeeperofDragons]

How about sueing (spelling?) the banks for the money back that the government gave to them as it seem they have now got enough to pay us back then we can put in the areas that it is supposed to go to - health, education etc

 

[dessiato]

I keep reading this as:
"Bakers ready to sue if bonuses too small"

 

[Proper Tidy]

City bonuses are always dependent on a ridiculous number of variables anyway aren't they? Not just individual and departmental targets but bank-wide and how competitors are doing and turnover/profit forecasts etc. Not a very transparent way they calculate them, can't see it being viable to challenge

 

[stuff_it]

City bonuses are always dependent on a ridiculous number of variables anyway aren't they? Not just individual and departmental targets but bank-wide and how competitors are doing and turnover/profit forecasts etc. Not a very transparent way they calculate them, can't see it being viable to challenge

But the banks are doing well, even though they have screwed everyone else.

Still, my boyfriend wants to know if he can now sue for a bonus, he thinks he should have one, he is the hardest working mechanic on his night shift and he's never off ill....

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Terribly sorry on the bonus front this year. We made a mistake when we were calculating your worth to us in the past decade. You owe us £10million each, I'm afraid. The bailiffs will be around in the morning...

 

[Proper Tidy]

But the banks are doing well, even though they have screwed everyone else.

Still, my boyfriend wants to know if he can now sue for a bonus, he thinks he should have one, he is the hardest working mechanic on his night shift and he's never off ill....

What I mean is the process is so subjective and complicated as to render legal challenges pointless

 

[stuff_it]

What I mean is the process is so subjective and complicated as to render legal challenges pointless

If thy can afford the legal challenges then by definition their bonuses are not too small.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I keep reading this as:
"Bakers ready to sue if bonuses too small"

"We demand a baker's dozen of cream horns, not just twelve! "

 

[jakethesnake]

The 'banker's gambit' : "Pay us huge bonuses or we will go abroad" is very similar to certain toss-bag 'celebrities' threatening to leave the country around election time if Labour get in. (To which we all say "Off you fuck then you surplus cunts, we're better off without you").

 

[SpookyFrank]

The 'banker's gambit' : "Pay us huge bonuses or we will go abroad" is very similar to certain toss-bag 'celebrities' threatening to leave the country around election time if Labour get in. (To which we all say "Off you fuck then you surplus cunts, we're better off without you").

Indeed. I refuse to believe there aren't hordes of people who would be perfectly capable of replacing these idiots and happy to work for less money. It's like a plague of locusts threatening to take their business elsewhere.

If they're so good at their jobs, how come they so obviously aren't?

 

[SpookyFrank]

The 'banker's gambit' : "Pay us huge bonuses or we will go abroad" is very similar to certain toss-bag 'celebrities' threatening to leave the country around election time if Labour get in. (To which we all say "Off you fuck then you surplus cunts, we're better off without you").

And I wouldn't be surprised if anyone who had been involved in banking in the UK in recent years would struggle to get arrested in Switzerland, Frankfurt, Hong Kong or wherever.

 

[butchersapron]

They wouldn't struggle to get arrested in Iceland.