Trader wins court battle over bonus after boss tells him: ‘F--- you, sue me’

A City trader has triumphed in a High Court battle against his former employer over claims his boss wrongly withheld a $5.4m (£4.1m) bonus before telling him: “F--- you, sue me.”Robert Gagliardi has successfully sued Evolution Capital Management for denying him the performance-based payout, despite him generating almost all of the hedge fund’s revenues.Court documents claim Mr Gagliardi – nicknamed “Gags” – first confronted Michael Lerch, the fund’s founder, about the bonus in 2022. He was told: “I’m not going to pay you the bonus, f--- you, sue me.”In its defence, Evolution Capital did not deny that Mr Gagliardi generated more than $60m during his employment, although it insisted the performance bonus was discretionary.As part of his case, Mr Gagliardi also claimed that he was insulted in separate correspondence by Mr Lerch, a former Ivy League footballer-turned-investor.It was claimed that after Mr Gagliardi’s request for a promotion was denied in September 2021, Mr Lerch suggested to another investor that he could take another title: “F--- face”.During the initial hearing, the High Court heard Mr Lerch had texted a senior colleague to say that Mr Gagliardi would “learn the meaning of discretionary very fast” if he misbehaved.Mr Gagliardi’s contract was later terminated in 2022.The breakdown in relations also triggered a separate dispute, as Evolution Capital claimed that a regulatory investigation into some of Mr Gagliardi’s trades at a former employer had damaged its reputation.This led to the hedge fund launching its own lawsuit in a bid to recoup the $7m he had earned while working at Evolution Capital.However, the High Court rejected Evolution Capital’s claim and awarded Mr Gagliardi his bonus.This was on the basis that he had been responsible for “virtually all of the profit generated for the funds” and as such was entitled to a bonus at the top end of the possible range, equivalent to around $5.4m.“There is no question that Mr Gagliardi made exceptional profit for the funds and Mr Lerch frequently praised his performance in that respect,” Mr Justice Calver said, adding that Mr Gagliardi was entitled to interest on the bonus.Seth Redniss, an employment lawyer acting for Mr Gagliardi, said: “As we maintained from the outset: Rob delivered 97pc of the fund’s revenues, helped triple assets under management and always acted with integrity.”Evolution Capital did not respond to a request for comment.