LI HON MAN AND ANOTHER v. CRYSTAL KNITTERS LTD.

LI HON MAN AND ANOTHER v. CRYSTAL KNITTERS LTD.

On the balance of probabilities the court found the contemporaneous documents and surrounding circumstances did not establish redundancy or summary dismissal for misconduct by the Defendant in respect of the First Plaintiff, so First Plaintiff was not entitled to notice or severance; the Second Plaintiff was...

Source-derived case information.

Citation
LI HON MAN AND ANOTHER v. CRYSTAL KNITTERS LTD.
Parties
First Plaintiff: Li Hon Man; Second Plaintiff: Chan Lai Ha; Defendant: Crystal Knitters Limited
Court
Court of First Instance
Jurisdiction
Hong Kong
Judgment Date
25 May 2001
Case Number
HCA5524/1998
Procedural Posture
Employment Dispute (labour Tribunal Claims Transferred to High Court) / Judgment (trial) Handed Down 25 May 2001
Outcome
Judgment partly for Plaintiffs. First Plaintiff awarded accrued annual leave and annual bonus; claims for notice, severance and unreasonable dismissal dismissed. Second Plaintiff found wrongfully dismissed and awarded terminal and related payments. Defendant's counterclaim dismissed except for ordered return of...
Legal Topics
Redundancy, Unfair Dismissal, Severance Payment, Notice Pay, Sick Leave Protections, Terminal Payment Under S.32 O, Return of Company Property, Wrongful Possession of Electronic Data
Source Language
en
Employment Law Labour Law Contract Law Intellectual Property Data/electronic Evidence Civil Procedure Redundancy Unfair Dismissal +6 more

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Summary, issues, holding and outcome

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Parties

Li Hon Man

First Plaintiff

Chan Lai Ha

Second Plaintiff

Crystal Knitters Limited

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Employment Dispute (labour Tribunal Claims Transferred to High Court) / Judgment (trial) Handed Down 25 May 2001

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether First Plaintiff was dismissed or resigned
  2. 2 Whether First Plaintiff was summarily dismissed for misconduct
  3. 3 Whether First Plaintiff was dismissed by reason of redundancy and entitled to severance or long service payment

Ratio Decidendi

On the balance of probabilities the court found the contemporaneous documents and surrounding circumstances did not establish redundancy or summary dismissal for misconduct by the Defendant in respect of the First Plaintiff, so First Plaintiff was not entitled to notice or severance; the Second Plaintiff was wrongfully dismissed and entitled to terminal payments under s.32O and specified statutory entitlements; the Defendant failed to prove its counterclaim allegations of wrongful possession, tampering or IP infringement and so the claimed damages were not awarded but certain company property and materials were ordered returned.

Court Disposition

Judgment partly for Plaintiffs. First Plaintiff awarded accrued annual leave and annual bonus; claims for notice, severance and unreasonable dismissal dismissed. Second Plaintiff found wrongfully dismissed and awarded terminal and related payments. Defendant's counterclaim dismissed except for ordered return of...

Orders

  • Defendant to pay First Plaintiff HK$21,817.00 for accrued annual leave
  • Defendant to pay First Plaintiff HK$77,000.00 as annual bonus (equivalent to two months' salary)