No Lawsuits For Diplomats

According to Bloomberg News, the British government intervened on behalf of the Kuwait Investment Authority in a lawsuit filed by the Kuwait Investment Office (the authority's investment arm in London) by one of its former senior employees, reports Al-Rai daily. An official letter from the British Foreign Office was sent to the Labor Court of Appeal in London, weeks after that court ordered the Kuwait Investment Office to hand over "sensitive" documents and correspondence related to a lawsuit filed against it by a British employee working as a fixed income investment manager before being dismissed from his position.

In its decision, the London court found no evidence that the British government recognized Kuwait Investment Office as part of Kuwait's diplomatic mission. A letter from the British Foreign Office to the Labor Court of Appeal in London said 20 senior Kuwait Investment Office officials have diplomatic immunity, which makes it impossible for them to appear before the court or provide documents. Bloomberg reported that it had seen the documents.

In an attempt to drop a lawsuit filed by an employee alleging that he was arbitrarily dismissed from his job, Kuwait Investment Office lost a court battle in which it sought to prove its sovereign immunity. However, the Kuwait Investment Office filed a counter-suit accusing the employee of squandering the office's budget by exaggerating the salaries and bonuses of some senior employees while he was performing the duties of the acting CEO.

In the report, it was argued that the British Foreign Office book would benefit Kuwait Investment Office, as it would persuade the court to cancel the decision requiring it to turn over sensitive documents due to its senior officials' diplomatic immunity.

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