Senior IBMer hit with £290k demand from Big Blue in separate case as unfair dismissal claim rolls on
- Reference: 1632396372
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/09/23/ibm_shamayun_miah_court_cases/
- Source link:
In its particulars of claim lodged on 10 February 2021 and recently made available by the court, Big Blue claimed that former Middle East GM Shamayun Miah should hand back two "special payments" because it sacked him within two years of paying him the cash lump sums.
Miah was paid pre-tax sums of £175,000 on 1 January 2018 and a further £100,000 on 1 January 2019, according to IBM's High Court filing. IBM has claimed he is "liable" to repay a portion of each of payment, together totalling £145,750.
[1]
A LinkedIn profile in Miah's name describes him as "the Managing Partner and General Manager for IBM's Global Business Services Middle East and Africa," adding that he "leads the region's business performance, day-to-day operations and global strategy execution in the market."
[2]
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Shamayun said in the profile he was "passionate about new and emerging digital technologies that are disrupting industries and creating new business models, innovation and opportunities for transformation."
The company alleged in its filing that if Miah was sacked within two years of receiving the "special payments" (which were not described as bonuses in the court papers), "he would be obliged to repay the full amount." He is also said to be liable to repay £60,024 in housing allowances and £62,793.36 in company-guaranteed housing rental payments.
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The terms of the "special payments" were said to have been spelled out in a letter signed by Miah on 14 December 2017. IBM claims he breached the terms of that agreement by refusing to repay the money.
In total the firm says he owes it £289,822.41, which includes the £145,750 for the special payments, £122,817.36 in rental and housing allowances and interest which it estimates at over £21,000.
The former VP was said to have been sacked by IBM in October 2019 with one month's notice. Miah has not, at the time of writing, filed a formal defence, and the deadline to do so expires this week.
[5]IBM sued again by its own sales staff: IT giant accused of going back on commission payments promise
[6]Age discrimination case against IBM leaks emails, docs via bad redaction
[7]Ex IBM sales manager, fired after battling discrimination against subordinates, wins $11m lawsuit
[8]IBM manager had to make one person redundant from choice of two, still bungled it and got firm done for unfair dismissal
The High Court claim is paused until early October, when Miah's unfair dismissal claim in the Employment Tribunal is due to be heard.
Employment Tribunal claim
Miah had separately [9]filed an unfair dismissal claim last year against IBM in the Employment Tribunal.
IBM asked whether the tribunal had territorial jurisdiction to hear Miah's case; Employment Judge Millard ruled in January that it did.
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According to the court papers, Miah's employment tribunal final hearing is listed as taking place on 4 to 6 October, around two weeks' time at the time of writing.
The former IBMer had applied to have the high court case stayed (paused) until the Employment Tribunal proceedings were ended, but the High Court decided not to grant that application – and handed Miah a £12,000 costs bill for doing so.
IBM's labour relations have been the subject of numerous court cases around the world; in the US, various older staffers claimed that the firm was unfairly sacking them [11]so it could slash its wage bill by hiring cheaper young replacements . In the UK, hundreds of staff sued on broadly similar grounds; the company [12]settled the case with 281 of them a few years ago, while a handful of cases [13]trickled through to full judgment.
And then there was the time that an IBM manager managed to bungle a redundancy selection exercise from a pool of two people and [14]got the firm done for unfair dismissal . ®
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[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/31/ibm_sales_lawsuit/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/06/age_discrimination_ibm/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/16/former_ibm_sales_manager_fired/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/05/ibm_unfair_dismissal_birmingham/
[9] https://www.gov.uk/employment-tribunal-decisions/mr-s-miah-v-ibm-united-kingdom-ltd-1400959-slash-2020
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YUykxAD4PDe4HPugaDDh-wAAAJY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/06/age_discrimination_ibm/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2019/11/25/ibm_uk_settles_281_age_discrimination_cases/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/04/ibm_unfair_redundancy_2018/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/05/ibm_unfair_dismissal_birmingham/
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: An excellent look for a recruiter
Even if they “win” for £300K, it’s cost them 10X at least in reputation damage. Boggles the mind that they would even file.
Re: An excellent look for a recruiter
Wait... IBM have a reputation to damage? Since when?
Re: An excellent look for a recruiter
"... liable to repay £60,024 in housing allowances and £62,793.36 in company-guaranteed housing rental payments."
So nothing they say is guaranteed. Noted.
These 2 paragraphs appear to be contradictory? Clarification suggested.
..The High Court claim is paused until early October, when Miah's unfair dismissal claim in the Employment Tribunal is due to be heard.
..The former IBMer had applied to have the high court case stayed (paused) until the Employment Tribunal proceedings were ended, but the High Court decided not to grant that application – and handed Miah a £12,000 costs bill for doing so.
"IBM has claimed he is 'liable' "
I have to say that, as far as employment claims from IBM are concerned, by default IBM does not have much credibility in its claims.
It really should stop trying to cheat its salespeople, for starters.
Only one reason to work for IBM
Big payoff when you sue them for unfair dismissal. Other than that, nothing.
Itsy Bitsy Manglers.
That's all.
They are a bit sneaky like this.
There are other "deals" IBM offer where you have to remain an employee for a set term before said employee can benefit. If you leave the company (regardless of it being voluntary or involuntary) then the agreement is nullified and you get nothing.
If only the C-Suite tossers had their bonus paid in the same way (have to remain employed for a couple of years and show their worth before they get it)....
This is quite different, those agreements usually mean you must stay for some predefined period before being due the payment. In this case, the employee had already been paid and Big Bad Blue is asking for the return of the money, although it was Big Bad Blue's decision to terminate the contract. It sounds even worse than when they renege due commissions...
An excellent look for a recruiter
Come work for us. We'll sue for money we have paid you. Remind me not to work for them. Irregardless of the merits or not of this case.
Icon because they are clearly toxic.