A portfolio manager who claimed he was sacked for reporting concerns about Creechurch Capital to the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority has won £685,000 ($869,982, €767,639) in compensation.
Robert Sutton was employed by boutique investment house Creechurch between January 2013 and February 2016.
Regulatory disclosure vs messanger misconduct
The crux of the long-running tribunal is whether Sutton was dismissed for discussing concerns about the company to the regulator, as argued by his defence team, or if he was sacked for gross misconduct for using social media messaging app WhatsApp to contact clients, as argued by Creechurch.
The original hearing was held over three days in April 2017, which unanimously found in favour of Sutton.
A bid by Creechurch for the tribunal to reverse its finding that Sutton was “automatically unfairly dismissed because of protected disclosures” was dismissed at a review hearing in August 2017.
Missing decision document
Local newspaper Manx Independent reported on Thursday that Sutton has been awarded compensation of more than £685,000, which is a record for the island.
International Adviser attempted to track down the employment tribunal decision, which are routinely posted on the Isle of Man government’s website.
However, a spokesperson for the IoM courts of justice told IA that the compensation decision was taken down at the request “of one of the parties”, in what was described as a “rare occurrence”.
A spokesperson for Creechurch has confirmed to International Adviser that an appeal will be filed.
