A wealthy City banker was left 'infuriated' because bosses only awarded him an annual bonus of £300,000, an employment tribunal heard. Fabio Filippi shouted at his superiors and said the "mere" sum was "unacceptable" having received more than £100,000 more the previous year.
Bosses at BNP Paribas London felt the highly-paid banker's work had dropped off and he ended up being sacked as they concluded he was an "expensive resource who didn't add value", the tribunal heard. The Italian - who had a combined salary package of nearly £700,000 at its highest - has now lost an unfair dismissal case against the French bank.
Filippi first started working at BNP Paribas in London in 1999 and worked his way up to senior roles, the London Central hearing was told. By 2009 he and the team he led met revenue targets of €10million and €20million respectively, the panel was told.
That year his bonus was £700,000. From 2009 to 2016, in bonuses alone Mr Filippi earned an eye-watering £3.25million, according to figures shown to the tribunal.
In 2012 he relocated to Milan, Italy, to lead a team and became head of distribution retail sales for Italy, earning a basic salary of £210,000. However, by 2016 BNP Paribas bosses started noticing his work performance had dipped. That year he was upset that he was given a €400,000 (£303,000) bonus.
A tribunal report said: "(BNP Paribas) decided to award (Mr Filippi) a bonus of €400,000 for 2016. That was €140,000 less than he had been awarded the previous year.
"Generally all the bonus awards were lower in 2016, but in (his) case the managers also took into account the fact that his performance had not been satisfactory in certain areas. [His bosses] met with him on March 3, 2017, to tell him about his bonus.
"He was infuriated by the decision to award him 'a mere' €400,000 bonus and said that it was unacceptable. He shouted at [one of his bosses] and said that he was being treated unfairly because he was not French and not based in Paris.
"He said that he was the best manager among his peers as evidenced by the performance of his team and that if he wanted to he could find a new job in a matter of a few days. He left the meeting without saying 'goodbye' or 'thank you'."
The following year, his output continued to decrease, the tribunal was told. The report said: "[He was] spending less time maintaining existing client relationships, his team had evolved and could function equally well without him, some members of his team had complained about his style of management and he was an expensive resource.
"There was a discussion about whether they really needed him in that role. They concluded that his usefulness to the business had run its course. They recognised his historic contribution to the business, but his role in the team no longer made sense from a business perspective."
Mr Filippi was informed that he was being dismissed and was given six months to find another role. He was angry that BNP Paribas repatriated him back to London and eventually left the bank in 2018.
At the tribunal he accused the bank of sacking him for whistle-blowing after he raised concerns about alleged "illegal" business conducted by BNP Paribas. However, Employment Judge Harjit Grewal dismissed his claims.
Judge Grewal said: "(His) reaction to the bonus awarded to him made it clear that he believed that he was entitled to high remuneration notwithstanding the performance shortcomings. [BNP Paribas'] view in essence was that the team would function just as well if it was restructured and his role was removed and his main responsibilities were absorbed by an existing member(s) of the team and it would save the business a lot of money.
"(Mr Filippi) was an expensive resource who was seen as adding no value to the team at that stage. The fact that he had made protected disclosures [whistle-blowing] in the early part of 2010 or with others in his team between 2014 and 2016 played no part in the decision to terminate his employment.
"He was a very highly paid employee and BNP Paribas was entitled to expect him to deliver to a high standard to justify that level of remuneration. BNP Paribas had made it clear to him at the end of 2016 the areas in which he had fallen below the standards expected and the improvement that it expected to see.
"(Mr Filippi's) failure to take on board and act on the feedback given to him at the appraisal and his reaction to the bonus made it clear that he continued to expect the same high levels of remuneration without addressing the concerns that had been raised."
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mr Filippi now runs a 'boutique luxury lifestyle' property company.
Monetary figures in this article have been adjusted to take into account historic exchange rates.
