Sacked SocGen executive 'too good for his job' seeks £10m

A London banker who claims he was fired for being too good at his job for his employer to afford his salary was in the Supreme Court yesterday seeking compensation.

Raphael Geys, a former managing director of Société Générale's European fixed-income sales in London, says the bank sacked him in 2007 because "I was too expensive and would remain too expensive in 2008" because of the pay formula in his contract.

Mr Geys is suing for €12.5m (£10.1m) he claims he is owed in bonuses and compensation for the termination of his contract.

SocGen originally offered Mr Geys – who says that revenues at his division more than doubled between 2005 and 2007 – €7.9m to cover termination payments.

However, when he refused the offer, the bank withdrew it, arguing that his decision to sue meant he was no longer entitled to the deal under his former contract.

The case will partly focus on whether one-off payments to fired staff in lieu of a written notice period constitute the end of a contract if paid without notifying them.