Mano Vikrant Singh v Cargill TSF Asia Pte Ltd
Judge | Chao Hick Tin JA |
Judgment Date | 07 August 2012 |
Neutral Citation | [2012] SGCA 42 |
Subject Matter | Restraint of Trade,Contract |
Docket Number | Civil Appeal No 149 of 2011 |
Hearing Date | 02 May 2012 |
Published date | 16 August 2012 |
Plaintiff Counsel | Philip Jeyaretnam SC, Mark Seah and Germaine Tan (Rodyk & Davidson LLP) |
Court | Court of Three Judges (Singapore) |
Defendant Counsel | Blossom Hing, Kimberley Leng, Mohan Gopalan and Justin Kwek (Drew & Napier LLC) |
This is an appeal against the decision of the judge (“the Judge”) in
The Judgment is a comprehensive one and (more importantly) is one with which (as we shall elaborate upon below) we agree – save in respect of just one (albeit crucial) issue (“the crucial issue”). Indeed, the Judge did proceed, on the
A final preliminary point might be in order. That the crucial issue has been characterised as such (
Cargill TSF Asia Pte Ltd (“the Respondent”) is part of the Cargill group of companies (“the Group”) which is privately owned and which runs 75 businesses worldwide. The Respondent is involved in the Group’s “Trade & Structured Finance Business” (“TSF Business”). The TSF Business customises financing arrangements for importer-exporters, profiting from the use of financial instruments in the process of commodities trading. The customisation is done both for importer-exporters owned by the Group, and for importer-exporters for non Group entities.
Mano Vikrant Singh (“the Appellant”) was an employee of the Group from 23 October 2001 to 27 November 2008, when his resignation took effect, and was posted to Singapore from September 2003. He was a TSF Business coordinator at all material times. From June 2006 until 30 March 2007 when the employment contract (see [6(a)] below) was signed, the Appellant worked informally for the Respondent.
The Appellant executed the following documents,
In addition, towards the end of every financial year, the Appellant was given a document headed “
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More significantly, the T&Cs set out a Forfeiture Provision
Deferred Incentives that have been awarded but not yet distributed will be forfeited if the Participant (1) is Terminated for Cause, FORFEITURE PROVISIONS or (2)(a) Separates from Service other than by reason of death or Disability, and (b) continues a career within the financial or commodity trading industry outside of the Company within a period of two years from the date of such Separation from Service (referred to as the “Two-Year Non-Compete Period”). Continuance of a career within the financial or commodity trading industry is defined as employment by, consulting with, establishing, or having a substantial ownership interest in any organization, which competes with the Company for employees, customers, clients, market share, or financial/commodity resources or deals.[emphasis added]
Under the T&Cs, before the Deferred Incentive Award can be processed for payment, the participant is required to sign his acknowledgement that “I have received, read and agree to these Terms and Conditions ...
The Appellant’s incentive award for the financial years 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 were US$400,000 and US$3.2 million, respectively. Half of these amounts were paid to him in cash, and half were deferred for a period of three years. Up to the hearing date, the Appellant had not received a total of US$1,741,894 (excluding interest), representing the outstanding portion of the Deferred Incentive Award for 2006/2007 and all of his Deferred Incentive Award for 2007/2008 (see the Judgment at [12]–[14]).
On 4 November 2008, the Appellant gave notice of his resignation. This was accepted by the Respondent via a letter on the same date informing the Appellant that his outstanding Deferred Incentive Award for the financial years 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 would be paid in a lump sum within 60 days after the expiry of the “Two-year Non-compete Period” (see [8] above).
On 19 October 2010, the Respondent wrote to the Appellant seeking that he sign a statutory declaration confirming fulfilment of the conditions in the Forfeiture Provision before receiving his outstanding Deferred Incentive Award.
... under the [T&Cs of the Incentive Award Plan], participants are only required to “complete a statement to certify that they have successful [sic] fulfilled the Two-year Non Compete Period” in order to be eligible to receive payment of the Deferred Incentive awarded. There is no obligation to make a statutory declaration, nor is there an obligation to provide the information sought by the Statutory Declaration enclosed in your letter.
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In any case, I have taken advice on the provision for forfeiture of the Deferred Award and understand that it is in restraint of trade and void as being against public policy.
On 14 February 2011, the Appellant commenced Originating Summons No 103 of 2011 (“OS 103/2011”), seeking the following reliefs:
Counsel for the Respondent, Ms Blossom Hing, had applied to convert OS 103/2011 into a writ on the basis that substantial disputes of fact were likely. The Judge did not convert OS 103/2011 into a writ action on condition that he would revisit the application to convert if there were genuine disputes of facts germane to the resolution of OS 103/2011.
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