Dresdner staff launch bonus fight
FORMER employees of Dresdner Bank have launched a sensational legal bid for €33m (£29m) in bonuses they claim were guaranteed by the bank but never paid.
The group of 72 staff say they were entitled to a share of a €400m “retention pool” created in response to the Financial Services Authority’s concern that hiving off the bank’s private and corporate client division would spark a mass talent exodus.
The restructuring and subsequent creation of the retention pool came prior to Dresdner being sold by Allianz to German rival Commerzbank.
The claimants, represented by Stewarts Law, will cite minutes from Dresdner board meetings, at which former chief executive Stefan Jentszch referred to the need for the retention pool.
According to the employees’ claim, they later received letters describing the bonus awards as “provisional”, contrary to promises by Dresdner, Allianz and later Commerzbank.
Shortly after completion of the takeover by Commerzbank, Jentszch’s replacement Martin Reuther e-mailed staff to tell them bonuses would be cut by 90 per cent.
The claimants say that while some of them received 10 per cent of their guaranteed bonus, others were awarded nothing at all, despite the unit earning €1.1bn in 2008.