L. Freitag

The plaintiffs, two portfolio managers, sued their former employer, an investment firm, claiming entitlement to $1.38 million in performance fees earned by the fund they managed.

The plaintiffs argued their employment agreements implicitly included these fees based on industry standards, or alternatively, that they were entitled to them under quantum meruit or an oral agreement.

The court dismissed the claims, finding the employment agreements unambiguously excluded performance fees, which were instead governed by a separate arrangement with a senior portfolio manager.

The court also rejected the quantum meruit claim as the plaintiffs were fully compensated under their contracts, and found the oral agreement was conditional on improved behaviour that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate.

A late claim for discretionary bonuses was also dismissed as it was not properly pleaded.

The plaintiff successfully moved to set aside a registrar's dismissal order and sought costs of $7,680 on a partial indemnity basis.

The defendant argued that the plaintiff was granted an indulgence and each party should bear their own costs.

The court found that while the plaintiff received an indulgence, the defendant unreasonably opposed the motion on the basis of prejudice that was caused by its own lack of diligence.

The court awarded the plaintiff reduced costs of $500, noting that much of the time claimed was unsubstantiated or for steps the plaintiff would have had to take regardless of the defendant's opposition.