Director fired for sex with subordinate's wife entitled to €74,000 bonus, court rules
A director who was previously fired because of a sexual affair with one of his subordinates’ wives is entitled to a bonus of over 74,000 euros, RTL Nieuws reports based on a ruling published by the Zeeland West-Brabant court this week.
The case revolves around a commercial director of a Noord-Brabant car painting company. He got fired at the end of 2022 over a long-ongoing sexual relationship with the wife of one of his account managers. Investigation revealed that the director, a man in his sixties, and the much younger woman had exchanged many hundreds of text messages and also met up for sex during working hours. When the account manager called in sick due to problems at home, the director also pressured him to return to work.
The director was suspended in early 2022 when the account manager complained. The company fired him at the end of that year without severance after the investigation.
The director went to court, demanding his high-paying job back and 2.5 million euros in compensation. He argued that the affair was a private matter which did not affect his work. The court ruled against him, also ordering him to repay 1,000 euros in unjustified salary as compensation for his sexting and other activities during working hours.
The director then filed another lawsuit, demanding that he get his bonus for 2022 despite the fact that he spent most of that year suspended. The man received around 80,000 euros in bonuses annually. This time, the court ruled in his favor.
According to the subdistrict court, the man was rightly dismissed without severance payment for seriously culpable conduct. But under the bonus conditions in his employment contract, he is still entitled to that money. The car painting company has to pay the former director a bonus of over 74,000 euros, plus 7,000 euros in penalty for paying the bonus late, and cover his legal fees of more than 2,000 euros, the court ruled.
