October 09, 2020
09:15
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Annick Van Overstraeten, the ex-CEO of Lunch Garden, demands 1.6 million euros from the restaurant chain in court for unpaid bonuses, unpaid severance pay and moral damage.
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Lunch Garden start of this week known that it wants to cut 138 jobs out of 1,100 and significantly reduce its costs. This should allow the restaurant chain, which has been severely affected by the corona crisis, to save 7 million euros.
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Those are not the only headaches of CEO Anne Biebuyck. On Thursday morning, it appeared at the corporate court in Brussels that ex-CEO Annick Van Overstraeten is going to court against Lunch Garden.
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Van Overstraeten had to end of May leaving the head of the restaurant chain after ten years. At the basis of her departure was a difference in strategic vision with the investment fund Freshstream, the main shareholder of Lunch Garden, about how to tackle the corona crisis.
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‘The transformation of recent years has happened by bringing the unions on board. I’ve always tried to find solutions for our employees, because they make the company. That vision is jeopardized by decisions that are made, ”she stated at the time.
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Legal tail
Her departure will have a legal tail end. The main part (1 million euros) of the 1.6 million she claims is compensation for moral damage. Van Overstraeten believes that in the run-up to her departure she was deliberately cheated and that her dismissal was a retaliation.
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The ex-top lady of Lunch Garden, nominated last year for the title of Manager of the Year, also demands a bonus for 2019 (142,200 euros), a severance payment equal to six months’ salary (191,400 euros) and an exceptional bonus (242,000 euros) for her role in Freshstream’s acquisition of Lunch Garden in 2015.
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She is also asking 10,000 euros because Freshstream – wrongly according to her – her new employer Le Pain Quotidien would have said that she had a non-compete clause. Van Overstraeten became mid July CEO of the bakery chain.
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Thursday’s hearing heralds the start of the proceedings. Van Overstraeten is represented by the law firm Tetra Law. Lunch Garden approached Loyens & Loeff.
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Coronacrisis
Lunch Garden was severely affected by the corona crisis in the spring. All of the chain’s restaurants closed for weeks. Some outlets only reopened this week.
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The chain started that crisis with higher debts due to a refinancing in November last year. Lunch Garden then took out a new loan of 77 million euros, 37 million of which went to shareholders.
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