Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Mutual trust and confidence

Legal area

Court

27 Mar 2025

MAIZE PETER ANDREW v. INTERNATIONAL CHINA CONCERN LTD

Citation

[2025] HKCFI 1231
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCLA48/2024

Leave to appeal was granted only in respect of the first ground concerning the Tribunal's treatment of an email allegedly acknowledging implementation of the employer's Policy on accrual/carry forward of annual leave; the other grounds were held not reasonably arguable because the claimant failed to rebut the presumption of redundancy and the pleaded claims did not properly encompass alleged pre‑termination breaches of mutual trust and confidence relevant to the claimed damages.
27 Aug 2024

YANG ZHIZHONG v. NOMURA INTERNATIONAL (HONG KONG) LTD

Citation

[2024] HKCFI 2192
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCA622/2018

Court found Nomura had reasonable and proper cause to issue the written warning based on SFC findings and internal investigation; the withholding of the FY2016/17 discretionary bonus was a lawful exercise of contractual discretion subject to Braganza rationality review and was not irrational; termination (labelled redundancy) was not proven to have been used to avoid bonus entitlement and unvested awards were forfeited as a consequence of the employee's failure to execute required waiver under the award terms. Accordingly all contractual breach claims failed.
4 Dec 2023

EGNER DAVID PARKS AND OTHERS v. CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS LTD AND ANOTHER

Citation

[2023] HKCFI 3126
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCA244/2014

On proper construction clause 10.1/9.1 treats all Captains as one homogenous class so freighter‑only Captains can in principle trigger Command Bypass Pay, but plaintiffs were disentitled because they had effectively 'declined' command training (including by refusing to bid or declining offered courses); bypass pay is not a deemed promotion for annual increments; recruitment of DEFOs and offering of training are subject to Selection Panel and operational needs and did not breach contract; pleaded implied terms were unnecessary or inconsistent with express terms; accordingly all plaintiffs' cla…
17 Mar 2021

LAM SIU WAI v. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES COMMISSION

Citation

[2021] HKCFI 726
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCLA21/2020

Leave to appeal was granted in respect of grounds 1, 2, 5 and 6 because they raised arguable points of law concerning the interface between contractual termination without cause and the implied term of mutual trust and confidence and the need to engage disciplinary procedures; leave was refused on grounds 3, 4 and 7 because they were abandoned, were fall‑backs dependent on other grounds, or amounted to challenges to factual findings not properly raising points of law.
19 Jan 2017

YU HUNG HSUA JULIE v. THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

Citation

YU HUNG HSUA JULIE v. THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACV270/2015

Leave to appeal and leave to amend were refused because the proposed challenge did not raise a point of general or public importance; Article 137 does not apply to internal procedural challenges to grades which concern procedural fairness rather than institutional academic autonomy; mutual trust and confidence is a private law matter not a ground for judicial review; the intended appeal was not reasonably arguable.
24 Dec 2014

TADJUDIN SUNNY v. BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION

Citation

TADJUDIN SUNNY v. BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCA322/2008

The court implied an anti-avoidance term into the plaintiff's employment contract (preventing termination by notice/payment in lieu to avoid eligibility for the performance incentive), found the PIP and termination in August 2007 were conducted in bad faith such that one dominant purpose was to avoid the 2007 bonus, dismissed the 2005 and 2006 irrationality claims, and awarded damages for the lost 2007 bonus (HK$3,900,000).
20 Mar 2008

HO TUNG MING TOMMY v. PAL ACTIVE LTD AND OTHERS

Citation

HO TUNG MING TOMMY v. PAL ACTIVE LTD AND OTHERS
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCCW90/2007

The court found the breakdown of mutual trust and confidence was attributable in large part to the petitioner’s wrongful or unreasonable acts (notably his conduct in relation to the registration and control of the Kunming subsidiary, the engagement/payment to Wen Yan, incorrect information to tax authorities and failure to reimburse expenses); the petitioner therefore did not come to equity with clean hands and was not entitled to winding-up relief, so the petition was dismissed and costs were ordered against him.
21 Mar 2003

SUN ZHONGGUO v. THE BOC GROUP LTD

Citation

SUN ZHONGGUO v. THE BOC GROUP LTD
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCA4492/2001

Implied terms cannot be used to abrogate or limit the statutory rights conferred by the Employment Ordinance to terminate by notice or by payment in lieu; accordingly the pleaded implied terms purporting to require continuation of employment until expiry of a notice period and to prevent payment in lieu were unarguable and were struck out; further, an employer's motive does not vitiate the lawful exercise of the statutory termination power; claims in negligence and claims that the implied duty of trust and confidence could curtail statutory termination rights were not maintainable in the circ…