Edward Levey and Nick Daly, instructed by Ryan Carthew of Dentons, acted for Cathay Investments and PNC Global Logistics Limited, the successful defendants, in a claim brought by two former senior executives and shareholders of PNC who were claiming wrongful dismissal.  The claimants sought declarations that they were entitled to be paid the fair value for their shares in PNC and that the restrictive covenants preventing them from competing with PNC were unenforceable.

The claim was issued on 30 May 2019 and the trial was heard in the High Court, on an expedited basis, 6 weeks later.

Dismissing the claims, the High Court found that the claimants had acted in breach of confidence and had improperly sought to cover up serious accounting irregularities.  The court held that PNC had been entitled to dismiss the claimants for gross misconduct, that Cathay was entitled to acquire the claimants’ shares in PNC for nominal value, and that the restrictive covenants were valid and enforceable.

A copy of the judgment is available here