Employment Tribunal rejects compensation claim by ex-MIFCO CEO
Lyubimov argued that MIFCO had terminated his employment without providing the three-month notice period specified in his contract.
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The Employment Tribunal has ruled against awarding compensation to former Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) Managing Director Dr. Vitaly Lyubimov, who claimed he was dismissed without the notice period set out in his employment contract.
Dr. Lyubimov, the first foreign national appointed as MIFCO's Chief Executive Officer, was dismissed in March last year, three months after taking up the post. He filed a case with the Employment Tribunal later that month.
In his claim, Dr. Lyubimov argued that MIFCO had terminated his employment without providing the three-month notice period specified in his contract.
He requested the Tribunal to order the company to pay salary for the notice period, amounting to US$42,000 (MVR 647,640).
In a ruling delivered on Wednesday by Tribunal member Mariyam Rishfa, the Tribunal found that the employment contract submitted by Dr. Lyubimov was not legally enforceable.
The ruling stated that the agreement on behalf of MIFCO had been signed by the person then responsible for the company's Human Resources department, who did not have authorisation from the company's Board of Directors to execute such an agreement.
Referring to MIFCO's Articles of Association and the Companies Act, the Tribunal noted that employment agreements of this nature must be signed either by a person authorised by the Board or by two serving directors.
The Tribunal concluded that the agreement was invalid and, as a result, no notice pay or damages could be awarded on the basis of that contract.
The ruling follows another case involving a former head of a state-owned enterprise.
Former Development Bank of Maldives Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Noel Gregor Paterson-Jones also filed a claim with the Employment Tribunal last year over alleged unpaid salary.
That case was dismissed after he failed to arrange an interpreter. The Development Bank of Maldives said at the time that Paterson-Jones had been paid for the period he had worked.
