Ross Pennell took deVere South Africa to court seeking payment of outstanding commission, notice pay and an unpaid portion of his bonus. A further claim of unfair labour practices was dismissed by the judge.
The judge found in favour of Pennell, deeming his evidence “more credible” than Green’s.
When contacted by International Adviser, a deVere spokesperson said the company “is extremely disappointed with the ruling and we intend to appeal the decision”.
“We are wholly confident that we will be successful in this appeal process as, since this case was in court, we have received further crucial evidence that we believe will prove our case beyond any doubt.”
The spokesperson added: “Furthermore, we have been approached by additional witnesses who will, we are sure, prove our case.”
Case history
Speaking to International Adviser, Pennell said he was employed by the international advisory company between June 2011 and September 2014.
The British national was promoted to area manager for Cape Town in February 2013.
In late April 2014, Pennell had a meeting with Green after a colleague left to start up a rival firm in South Africa and took a lot of deVere personnel with him.
Pennell opted to remain with deVere and said “I was in quite a strong bargaining position and negotiated what I felt was quite an attractive package to stay with the company”.
According to Pennell, he met with Green and orally agreed that he would receive an immediate, unconditional bonus payment of £150,000 to incentivise him to stay. If Pennell remained employed for 12 months, he would receive a further £100,000 plus a percentage based on the performance of the Cape Town office.
Pennell told IA that he left the meeting understanding that the terms of the agreement were to be put into writing by Green.
On 30 June, a payment of £20,000 was made to Pennell.
Two weeks later, Pennell sent an email to Green reconfirming the details of their agreement, to which he received no response.
Pennell further told IA that he had been offered a promotion to senior area manager on or around 1 July but was suspended with effect from 4 July. He was told the reason related to dishonesty and negligence pertaining to his work permit, a spousal visa, which lapsed on 12 June.
At a disciplinary hearing in August 2014, Pennell was found to have been negligent with regard to not renewing his visa more promptly, which he concedes, but not dishonest.
After receiving a final written warning on 21 August, Pennell’s employment was terminated on 8 September on the basis that he was not in possession of a work permit. He was told that he would receive one month’s pay as it was a no-fault termination.
With the departure of the other senior managers to Carrick Wealth, Pennell believes that he was seen as a “member of the old guard” and the steps taken by deVere were to “manoeuvre him out of the company”.
To date, he has not received this money.
