In Hu Yangyong v Alba Asia Limited [2025] HKCFI 2484 (OLN acted for the Plaintiff), the Court of First Instance found that the Defendant employer company failed to discharge its burden of justifying summary dismissal, and the Plaintiff employee was wrongfully dismissed by the Defendant employer company. The Court awarded damages to the Plaintiff as a result of the wrongful dismissal.

The Plaintiff was the Chief Operating Officer (Asia) of the Defendant since 1 June 2017. The Plaintiff’s employment contract provided for various allowances and benefits, such as out-of-pocket family expense reimbursement and business expense reimbursement. On 7 September 2018, the Plaintiff was summarily dismissed by the Defendant on the grounds of alleged misconduct and dishonesty arising from reimbursement of expenses.

The Court of First Instance reiterated and reaffirmed the principle on summary dismissal:
Summary dismissal is regarded as a strong and extreme measure and is justified only in exceptional cases. The onus of proof is on the employer to establish that summary dismissal is justified. The standard of proof is generally the balance of probabilities, but the more serious the allegation, the stronger the evidence must be before the court concludes that the allegation is proven. While summary dismissal may be justified by an act of gross misconduct by the employee, what amounts to gross misconduct requires a fact-finding exercise. An act of dishonesty will not automatically justify summary dismissal since there are degrees of dishonesty. Summary dismissal will only be justified if the dishonest act amounts to a repudiation of the contract of employment.

In the present case, the Court of First Instance found, amongst others, that summary dismissal was not justified, as the Defendant had failed to meet the thresholds required for summary dismissal. In particular, the Court found that the Plaintiff had genuinely incurred family expenses exceeding the threshold and had nothing to gain personally. The Defendant failed to show that the Plaintiff had acted with dishonesty or fraudulent intent.

Key takeaways:

Summary dismissal should be considered as a remedy of last resort. Employers should exercise caution before making a decision to summarily dismiss an employee.

The full judgment can be viewed here:

[https://legalref.judiciary.hk/lrs/common/search/search_result_detail_frame.jsp?DIS=169764&QS=%24%28alba%2Casia%29&TP=JU]

Partner Victor Ng, Senior Associate Barbara Kwong, and Associate Claudia Wong acted for the Plaintiff.

OLN has extensive experience in handling employment-related matters, including wrongful termination, and contractual disputes. With a strong track record of representing both employers and employees, OLN is well-equipped to provide practical, strategic, and effective legal advice to navigate complex employment issues.

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