Tag: Employment Law

  • Parent’s Duty to Employees of its Subsidiary: Chandler v. Cape affirmed

    In an earlier post, we had discussed the judgment of the England & Wales High Court in Chandler v. Cape plc, [2011] EWHC 951. In that case, the Court had held that in certain circumstances, a parent company would owe a duty of care to the employees of the subsidiary even in situations where the

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  • Parent Company’s duty to employees of its Subsidiary

    /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} In an interesting judgment delivered earlier this month, Chandler v. Cape Plc. [2011] EWHC 951 (dt. 14/4/2011), it has been held that a parent company owes a duty of care

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  • Confidentiality = Non-compete?

    In India, there is a fair amount of debate regarding the enforceability of non-compete agreements given Section 27 of the Contract Act that invalidates contracts in restraint of trade. Recent developments in California may throw some further light on the issue. Oracle’s appointment of former HP-CEO Mark Hurd has given rise to litigation by HP.

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  • The Court of Appeal Reaffirms the Sanctity of the Corporate Form

    Few issues have proved to be more controversial than the strength of the principle that the company is a separate legal entity. The exceptions to the principle – commonly referred to as “lifting” or “piercing” the corporate veil – are both statutory and judge-made. The statutory exceptions are, in the main, not controversial. However, while

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  • The AIG Bonus Payments Controversy: Issues of Contract Law

    There has been a significant outrage since the controversy over bonus payments to some AIG employees began about a week ago. One of the justifications of the AIG management for pressing on with the payments is that the company is legally obligated to pay their employees failing which it could be liable to suits for

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  • Non-Compete and Non-Disclosure Agreements: Are They in Restraint of Trade?

    (In the following post, Venugopal Mahapatra and Gautam Bhatia discuss the Indian legal position regarding non-compete and non-disclosure clauses in employment and similar contracts in the context of a Bombay High Court decision. They also compare and contrast the Indian law on this topic with the position that prevails in the U.K.) V.F.S. Global Services

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  • Employment Restrictions on PSU Executives: How Valid Are They?

    One of our regular readers points us to this news report: “Top level public sector executives, including directors and chief executives, will not be able to join private firms after retirement or resignation unless they get go-ahead from the government. If they decide to join, they may have to pay damages to the government for

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