News: Contract Law
Employment law 'needed to dismiss senior executives'
17 March 2009
Employment law training may be necessary to help companies dismiss senior executives for wrongdoing, an expert asserts.
Alexandra Mizzi, associate for employment and incentives at Lewis Sikin, tells People Management that the first step must be to analyse the individual's contract.
She recommends examining the employee's responsibilities and duties to determine whether evidence of negligence can be found.
If this fails, it may be possible to show that a director has failed to fulfil their fiduciary duties to the company, the news provider reports.
Other grounds which could be highlighted by contract law training include there being an irretrievable breakdown of the relationship between the executive and the firm.
Ms Mizzi states: "Alternatively, an employer might try to justify a dismissal by referring to the reputational damage caused by a well-publicised organisational failure."
Head of employment law at Mace and Jones Martin Edwards recently told the BBC that employment law must highlight the pitfalls of incorrect redundancies, as mistakes in this area can cost firms a lot of money.
