Following the recent lawsuit filed by former CEO of Hoa Sen Group (HSG) against this company for slander, the group has also taken proceeding against him on April 18.
HSG and its former CEO will meet at court
The scandal between HSG and its former CEO began when HSG’s Chairman, Le Phuoc Vu declared at a shareholders’ meeting held on March 22 that the reason why Pham Van Trung had resigned from his job at HSG was due to his opaque management style. Following the statement the war of words between the once-HSG CEO and his former employer has continued in the media.
Pham Van Trung filed a petition at Di An District People’s Court in Binh Duong Province on April 17 suing HSG for slander, he also required HSG to officially apologize him in three newspapers and admit that their statements were false.
However, HSG also submitted documents to State Securities Commission of Vietnam and HCM City Stock Exchange to proceed against Pham Van Trung and required Trung to pay the company compensation of VND26 billion (USD1.24 million).
According to HSG, Pham Van Trung signed non-disclosure agreement with HSG on October 22, 2010 which stated for a period 36 months he would not be able to reveal HSG business information and secrets; co-operate with any organisations or individuals in production, doing business, working as dealer, or revealing HSG’s customer information and competitive items without HSG’s written permission. The document allegedly opens Trung up to being counter-sued by HSG.
Trung was appointed HSG Deputy General Director in April, 2007. He was then promoted to become HSG General Director on April 1, 2011. However, he resigned on April 18, 2011. HSG’s board accepted his resignation on April 27, 2011.
Trung then joined the board of the Nam Kim Joint Stock Company (NKG) on November 19, 2011. On the same day, he was appointed as NKG’s General Director.
According to HSG’s board of directors, the fact that Pham Van Trung co-operated with NKG and became a board member and General Director just seven months after his resignation from HSG was a serious violation of his commitments to HSG, and the company will sue him.
HSG also accused Trung of enticing key managers to his new company. These managers had also signed commitments with HSG, so they would also be sued.
The main focus of these lawsuits still focuses on Trung. HSG is demanding VND26 billion (USD1.24 million) in compensation based on the damage he allegedly caused through his term of office at HSG.
HSG’s board of directors also warned that these lawsuits might affect NKG’s stock value, affirming that they didn’t want to enter into a dispute with NKG, but HSG had to protect its own interests.
HSG also suggested NKG end their labour contracts with Trung and other managers having worked in HSG.
“If NKG doesn’t end their employment of former HSG staff, HSG will be forced to conclude that NKG is unfairly competing with HSG and deliberately attempting to damage HSG’s interests. In this case, we will have to use legal measures and the media to protect our interests,” HSG’s board of directors declared.
