Voiceofreason
The $150k was awarded under the Employment Ordinance, as the maximum allowed under the Ordinance for wrongful dismissal. As an aside, it is curious that Crofts got 70k Sterling (HK$800k) for wrongful dismissal from the UK Labour Tribunal;- remember we are all amahs.....
This is complex, and this is my take.. The Final Court of Appeal records the original Judge, Justice Reyes, as summarizing Cathay firing the 49ers for belonging to a Union and engaging in Union activities. Both the Court of Appeal and Final Court of Appeal rejected Cathay's argument that this was grounds for dismissal. On that basis, the 150k was awarded.
I will really go on a limb here and say, just like the Adjudicator in the SO bypass case, the original Judge (Reyes) listened to the witnesses and formed an opinion as to the fundamental human qualities of both parties and decided that, ostensibly, those representing Cathay were, shall we say, lacking. Consequently, he ruled heavily in favour of the employees, the 49ers (as did the Adjudicator in the SO bypass case). Judges, like most people, don't like being lied to.
The Appeal Judges do not deal with the witnesses. They do not see the lies, the body language, and consequently the human side; the pain, deceit, the arrogance. I find it curious how the Appeal Judges say they will limited themselves to reviewing the Law and then comment on evidence and effectively retry the case. The Appeal Judges thought Cathay conducted their Defence appropriately and therefore the $300k special damages were inappropriate. They completely ignored the hidden documents from the "star chamber", - some might call that an inappropriate Defence and others call it perjury. The Appeal Judges were utterly unaware of the bizarre testimony from Nick Rhodes regarding sickness rates.
Sorry, a bit of a rant, but I find it frustrating that the the 49ers got such a raw deal from the HK Judiciary. Justice Reyes looked the witnesses in the eyes, and saw what we all saw. The Appeal Justices, from the rarified atmosphere of an Ivory Tower, just didn't get it. I suppose there is intelligence and then there is common sense.......