An employee is seen walking over a mosaic of pound sterling symbols set in the floor of the front hall of the Bank of England, in London in this March 25, 2008 file photograph.
Be careful who you invite to lunch. Royal Bank of Canada's BlueBay Asset Management unit and a former employee are in a court fight over a £1.7-million ($2.7-million Canadian) payout to the former employee, all sparked by what appears to be an innocuous invitation to a midday meal.
According to the Daily Mail, former BlueBay sales manager Fahim Imam-Sadeque is suing BlueBay.
The fight stems from an email inviting a former co-worker to lunch, which caused BlueBay to stop the payout of £1.7-million in fund units.
According to the newspaper, which cites court filings, Mr. Imam-Sadeque left BlueBay for a rival, and while on leave between jobs (but still employed by BlueBay) he asked an old colleague to lunch. He says BlueBay accused him of trying to lure his lunch date to another job.
The paper quoted BlueBay as saying it would fight the claim.
BlueBay is part of RBC Asset Management. Royal Bank of Canada agreed to buy BlueBay in late 2010 for $1.5-billion.
Here's the link to the full story in the Daily Mail.