Claire Reid
A banker was left ‘infuriated’ after his bosses handed him an annual bonus of a ‘mere’ £300,000.
Fabio Filippi, who worked at BNP Paribas, was so upset by receiving the bonus, which was £100,000 less than what he’d got the year before, that he started to shout at his bosses, a tribunal heard.
Bosses at the French banking firm believed that Filippi’s work had dipped and he ended up being let go as they felt he was an ‘expensive resource who didn’t add value’.
Advert
Italian national Filippi, who had a combined salary package worth almost £700,000 at its highest, launched a tribunal against his former employer.
The tribunal heard that Filippi joined BNP Paribas in London in 1999 working his way up to a senior position, but in 2016 bosses said they saw his work performance take a dip.
When bonuses were given out that year, Filippi was given €400,000 (£334,566), something which he appeared to think was 'unacceptable' and he wasn't shy about letting his feelings known, with a report claiming he 'shouted' at one of his employers.
The tribunal report read: “(BNP Paribas) decided to award (Mr Filippi) a bonus of €400,000 for 2016. That was €140,000 (£117,079) less than he had been awarded the previous year.
Advert
“Generally all the bonus awards were lower in 2016, but in [his] case the managers also took into account the fact that his performance had not been satisfactory in certain areas.
“[His bosses] met with him on March 3, 2017, to tell him about his bonus.
“He was infuriated by the decision to award him ‘a mere’ €400,000 bonus and said that it was unacceptable.
“He shouted at [one of his bosses] and said that he was being treated unfairly because he was not French and not based in Paris.
Advert
“They recognised his historic contribution to the business but his role in the team no longer made sense from a business perspective.”
The tribunal was told that the year after saw Filippi’s work performance continue to drop and bosses ‘concluded that his usefulness to the business had run its course’.
Filippi was told that he was being let go from the company and given six months to find a new role - he eventually left in 2018.
At the tribunal, the former employee claimed he had been unfairly sacked for whistleblowing about his concerns of alleged ‘illegal’ businesses being conducted by BNP Paribas.
However, employment judge Harjit Grewal dismissed his claims.