Duncan Ferguson was dismissed from his £350,000 a year job on his first day after Lancer was taken over by Astrea Asset Management whose sole director was Mustafa Kheriba, from Abu Dhabi
A director of a company that managed the Royal Family of Abu Dhabi’s £5.5bn London property portfolio was unfairly sacked after pointing out that to make an unscheduled meeting he would have to arrange care for his terminally ill wife.
Duncan Ferguson’s Abu Dhabi boss said he didn’t like the tone of the email, claiming it was ‘defiant’ and decided to sack Mr Ferguson shortly after the meeting took place.
Mr Ferguson was a director of Lancer Asset Management that had managed the Berkeley Square Estate that comprised a prime portfolio in Mayfair, Knightsbridge, Oxford Street and Kensington Palace Mansions, dubbed Britain’s most expensive street.
In the 16 years they had managed the current 140 properties it, it had grown from £325 million to its current value of £5.5 billion.
The Estate’s properties include the iconic posh Annabel’s nightclub and the Clermont club and casino founded in 1962 by John Aspinall with original members including five dukes, five marquesses, almost twenty earls and two cabinet ministers.
Over the years it became a haunt for the rich and famous including the likes of Peter Sellers, Lord Lucan, the Duke of Devonshire, James Goldsmith and Kerry Packer.
Mr Ferguson was dismissed from his £350,000 a year job on his first day after Lancer was taken over by Astrea Asset Management whose sole director was Mustafa Kheriba, from Abu Dhabi.
The Estate’s properties include the iconic posh Annabel’s nightclub and the Clermont club and casino founded in 1962 by John Aspinall with original members including five dukes, five marquesses, almost twenty earls and two cabinet ministers
Although he was not down to work that day, he was called in by CEO Giles Easter and had to rearrange care for his wife who was dying from ovarian cancer and had just weeks to live.
But his email was read by Mr Kheriba, who said he did not like its tone and claimed it indicated defiance.
Ruling that he was unfairly dismissed, Employment Judge Sarah Goodman said: ‘Duncan Ferguson was invited to meet Giles Easter at the office on 29 September when no one else would be working.
‘His wife was now dying of ovarian cancer, and his reply involved explaining he had to rearrange his wife’s care to make the meeting, as he thought he would not be at work that day.
‘Mustafa Kheriba, seeing this, said he did not like his tone.
‘He explained to the tribunal he meant he thought it was not the right way to respond to a supervisor’s summons to a meeting, and indicated defiance.
‘In the view of the tribunal the email about care arrangements is businesslike, appropriate and compliant, nor does it seem Giles Easter read it any other way.
‘Mr Kheriba’s reading was a cultural misunderstanding, but not without significance if Mustafa Kheriba was involved in the decision to dismiss.’
The tribunal was told that following the meeting in which Mr Ferguson was described by Mr Easter as ‘aggressive, negative and confrontational’ and following a discussion with Mr Kheriba and the lawyers they decided to dismiss him.
Mr Kheriba reported to Mr Jassim al-Seddiqi of the Abu Dhabi Financial Group, which owned Astrea.
Employment Judge Goodman said: ‘Duncan Ferguson told him (Mr Easter) of the history of bad blood with Mr al-Seddiqi, and that 11 staff would transfer from Lancer.
‘He concluded with ‘welcome to the viper’s nest’, and reported to his co-directors he had been ‘blunt’.
‘Mr Easter recalls being pressed to say whether ADFG owned Astrea, because ‘the staff wouldn’t want to learn they were working for ISIS’.’
Of Lancer’s four directors, two of them, Byron Pull and Andrew Lax were not transferred to the new company and CEO John Kevill was sacked after his transfer but before he started after all the directors were accused of changing their contracts to give themselves ‘golden parachutes’, 15 percent pay rises and 50 percent bonuses after being told of the transfer.
Although Mr Ferguson was implicated in this, Astrea transferred him on the basis that they needed someone with his intimate knowledge of the estate.
Employment Judge Goodman added: ‘Any complicity by Mr Ferguson was not blameworthy; it would have been clear he was a follower, not a leader, ether in the contracts, or in the withholding of information to the owner, not did the recorded discussions show him speaking contemptuously of the owner of Astrea.’
Other claims for disability and part-time work discrimination by Mr Ferguson failed.
Properties in the Royal Family of Abu Dhabi’s £5.5bn Berkeley Square estate include the iconic Clermont club and casino which was visited by the likes of Lord Lucan, left, and Peter Sellers, right
In a meeting with Mr Easter another director of Lancer, CEO John Kevill vented his anger at ‘the Arabs’, saying: ’55 years ago they were sitting on a rock, pointing over some goats and picking their nose.* Now they being the richest guys in the world within two generations’, and ‘honesty is a tradable commodity and saving face is more important than honesty.’
Although he also won his unfair dismissal case, the tribunal ruled that he get no award due to his remarks and his obstruction of the handover and reworking of his contract which left him earning £575,000 a year.
Employment Judge Goodman ruled: ‘The fourth claimant (Kevill) was unfairly dismissed. Any compensation for unfair dismissal is reduced by 100% for conduct.
‘His conduct as an employee was so substantially bad that a 100% reduction in award is appropriate.’
The two other directors, Byron Pull and Andrew Lax failed in their claims for unfair dismissal after the Abu Dhabi Royal Family omitted them from a list of employees they wanted transferred to Astrea in the first place.
Astrea was ordered to pay three week’s pay to each of the claimants for failing to inform Lancer of the transfer arrangements.
A remedy hearing will be heard in February. Bonuses and termination payments under the new contracts were ruled void.