By Nell Mackenzie and Kirstin Ridley
LONDON (Reuters) -Hedge fund founder Davide Leone and his eponymous firm have successfully defended themselves against allegations of bullying, victimisation and discrimination in a London lawsuit brought by a former director.
However, while the Central London Employment Tribunal ruled that former senior director Jacopo Moretti had been fired after a protracted period of ill-health, it accepted his claim of unfair dismissal, partly because a disciplinary letter had been too unspecific.
He won 1,286 pounds ($1,725), sharply reduced from a basic award the judge set at 2,572 pounds because of his conduct before his dismissal.
Moretti was dismissed by Davide Leone & Partners Investment Company (DLP) in 2023 after an absence of around 13 months.
The dispute offered a rare glimpse into the often-secretive world of hedge funds, which manage more than $4 trillion.
The tribunal rejected whistleblowing and harassment claims brought by Moretti related to issues such as race, religious belief, sex and disability. Claims that he was dismissed for making health and safety disclosures and that the hedge fund failed to make reasonable adjustments for his deteriorating mental health were also rejected.
Moretti was ordered to pay just over 49,000 pounds for his share of translating 72 hours of covert Italian-language recordings of what the judge described as sometimes “emotionally charged” conversations with Leone and others that he had entered in evidence.
The sum included DLP’s costs for pursuing him for non-payment of those translation and transcription fees.
In a 119-page judgment published on Tuesday, Judge Richard Nicolle said Moretti was at least partly motivated by a desire to cause “maximum embarrassment and potential reputational damage” to Leone.
The judge questioned whether all Moretti’s discrimination and whistleblowing claims were made in good faith, saying in one example that Moretti had effectively “induced” Leone to speak of a colleague who he had “obvious antipathy” towards, while secretly recording him.
However, language used by Leone in the taped conversations with Moretti was “wholly inappropriate, misogynistic and discriminatory” and did not meet the standards expected of a senior executive in financial services, Nicolle said.
Leone expressed regret for his vocabulary during what he thought were private conversations, the judgment said.
Moretti’s lawyer declined to comment on his client’s behalf.
DLP told Reuters that as well as rejecting Moretti’s claims, the judge had found an independent internal investigation at the hedge fund into Moretti’s allegations to be fair and impartial.
The judgment can be appealed.
($1 = 0.7453 pounds)
(Reporting by Kirstin Ridley and Nell Mackenzie; Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes and Catherine Evans)
