The case of one of the costliest lunches ever
IT was either an innocent lunch between asset management executives or an overt attempt by an outgoing member of staff to get his friend to join him in jumping ship.
Now, however, a judge may have to decide exactly what was said after Fahim Imam-Sadeque invited Damian Nixon out for a drink last August.
Imam-Sadeque, the former head of sales for Britain, the Middle East and Australia at BlueBay Asset Management, is suing his ex-employer for £1.7m after the firm accused him of trying to poach Nixon. He says BlueBay leapt to the wrong conclusion and consequently withheld £1.7m of fund units after he went on gardening leave. He joined Goldbridge Capital in January.
The dispute is believed to centre on an email Iman-Sadeque sent to Nixon, asking “Coffee today? Nixon replied that he was free between 11am and 4pm and Imam-Sadeque responded: “OK, you can take me for lunch”, according to the writ.
BlueBay, which manages $36bn (£22.7bn), later wrote to him claiming he was in breach of their agreement.
Yesterday Bluebay said: “We regard the claim as being without merit and will be defending it vigorously.”