Strategic expert advice reduces $14M dismissal claim
KordaMentha Forensic was engaged as consulting experts to advise an ASX-listed company in relation to unfair dismissal proceedings listed in the Federal Court of Australia.
KordaMentha Forensic was engaged as consulting experts to advise an ASX-listed company in relation to unfair dismissal proceedings listed in the Federal Court of Australia.
The matter related to a claim brought forward by a former senior executive who, among other things, alleged they were underpaid performance-based incentives over the course of their tenure.
We were engaged to provide strategic advice to the company and their lawyers (together, ‘Client’) in not only responding to their former employee’s claim, but to assist our Client in understanding their actual exposure and guide them through the independent expert process.
How we helped
A critical aspect of our role was to understand and communicate to the legal team the way in which the company calculated and accounted for performance-based incentives. To achieve this, we engaged in a number of conferences with key staff members, and reviewed a large number of documents covering a 10 year period, including employee contracts, management reports and internal remuneration policies.
From this process, we advised our Client on the quantum of potential underpayments to the former employee, areas of risk in the actual performance incentives paid and areas of deficiency in the former employee’s claim.
We continued to work closely with the Clients in drafting critical affidavits and instructions for the independent experts that explained the way in which the company management accounts were prepared and how the performance-based incentives were calculated. Together, the affidavits and instructions ensured that the independent experts arrived at a claim value that was in an acceptable range in terms of the company’s financial exposure.
Outcomes acheived
The matter went to trial and the independent accountants prepared a joint expert report. Ultimately, both experts were able to come to an agreement with respect to quantum which significantly reduced our Client’s financial exposure.
