Papadopoulos v Standard Chartered Bank

Deputy Chief Justice David Steel handed down the judgment of the DIFC Court in Papadopoulos v Standard Chartered Bank [CFI/004/2017] granting the Defendant Bank’s application for immediate judgment.

The Claimant had sued the Bank for breach of a settlement agreement arising out of the compromise of his employment as Regional CEO of the Bank. The Claimant then sought damages for a failure to pay a bonus, it being an express term of the settlement agreement that the Bank would consider making an award.

The Bank decided not to award a bonus due to the Claimant’s conduct in the relevant period. The Bank brought an immediate judgment application of the Claim, on the basis that, as a matter of construction of clause 14 of the settlement agreement, the claim had been compromised; alternatively, that the claim for breach of any implied duty of good faith, when exercising the discretion whether or not to award a bonus contained in clause 13 of the settlement agreement, was hopeless.

The DCJ granted the Bank’s application on the ground that the breach of the implied duty of good faith had no prospect of success.

Farhaz Khan acted for Standard Chartered Bank instructed by Baker & McKenzie (London) and Baker & McKenzie Habib Al Mullah (Dubai).

A copy of the judgment can be found here.

News 27 Feb, 2018