Banker who complained about pay wins unfair dismissal claim

A banker who was made redundant following complaints that he wasn’t being paid enough has won his claim of unfair dismissal.

Benjamin Price said that he had “signed his own death warrant” because he was “not prepared to put up and shut up”.

The case centred on an unwritten agreement that Mr Price had with his employers. He had been employed by Morgan Stanley for 14 years, and was on a salary of £533,000.

He was headhunted by rival firm Citibank in 2010, who offered him an annual salary of £670,000. Mr Price informed his employers of the offer, and it was agreed that they would match it in order to keep him.

However, Mr Price’s salary actually decreased to £518,000. He complained to his superiors, but was told that there wasn’t enough money to pay him more.

He was then one of several staff who were made redundant in 2012, despite his positive performance for the company.

Mr Price took action against the bank, claiming he was only selected for redundancy because of his ongoing complaints about his salary.

The tribunal found in favour of Mr Price and said: “The employer orally agreed to increase remunerations and increase the responsibilities of Mr Price. The dismissal was procedurally unfair.”

Morgan Stanley were ordered to pay Mr Price an undisclosed amount for unfair dismissal.

Please contact Chris Jolly in our Westbury office on 01373 865577, or email cjolly@mulaw.co.uk if you would like more information about employment law or any of the issues raised in this article.