When Sergei Suchkov took a job as Reebok Russia»s store designer last September, he never imagined he would be suing the sportswear giant only a few months later. But when Reebok Russia dismissed him after he complained that it pays under the table, Suchkov decided to take legal action.
On Friday morning the 32-year-old interior designer is set to face off with his former employer in the Lefortovo district court. Suchkov is suing for moral damages and seeking reinstatement at Reebok Russia. Suchkov claims that he was illegally fired after informing his employment agency that Reebok Russia intended to remunerate him with so-called «gray» wages.
Although paying employees off the books is considered common practice among Russian firms keen to save on social security contributions, it would be unusual for a company working under a well-known Western brand to do so. Employers» payments of the Unified Social Tax can amount to 35 percent of a worker»s wage. »Employees are taking their employers to court over violations of their rights more frequently each year,» said Henry Rutstein, a labor law specialist at Linklaters law firm.
New pension regulations and an expedited process for hearing labor disputes will continue the trend, Rutstein said. Suchkov said he first suspected foul play when Reebok Russia gave him a job offer in writing but failed to provide him with a contract in the legally allotted period of three days. He complained to his employment agency Manpower, Suchkov said, but was shocked to see his official salary given as $200 in the contract that landed on his desk two weeks later.
After appealing to Manpower a second time, Suchkov said he received yet another contract -- this time with his full salary of $1,265. But the following day, according to his claim, Reebok Russia»s general director Yury Bayev told him to leave the company or be fired. «Imagine -- I'd been chasing this job for a year. I went through lots of interviews, spent a lot of energy, turned down other offers. And all this to say «OK, I'll leave?» Suchkov said in an interview.
Suchkov said the company then required him to carry out a test to establish his competence as a designer. He was given four hours to present the design of a Reebok store -- a task he claims would normally take a team of designers several days to complete. Suchkov said that he was not provided with the proper tools to even attempt taking the test, which, as a consequence, he failed. Suchkov's employment record now carries a note to the effect that he was fired for incompetence by his last employer. At the end of the day, my professional life has come to an end because of [Reebok Russia]. That's it. Finished, he said. I couldn't just quit. Maybe another Russian guy would have left and said, «Well, it's a good thing they didn't beat me up, too».
Bayev, the man who fired Suchkov, declined to comment on the specifics of the case until the court hands down a final decision. «I am absolutely confident that the position of our company is just and that the process of Mr. Suchkov's firing took place in full compliance with the law» - Bayev said. Maxim Ignatyev, chairman of the board of Reebok Russia, is on vacation. Calls to Ignatyev's cellphone were redirected to his secretary. Suchkov said that he had described his case to Reebok International's president Jay Margolis in a letter last December. Although he was notified that the letter had been delivered, Suchkov said he had yet to receive a reply.
«Reebok Russia is an independent distributor and we will not be involved in this case in any way,» a spokesman for Reebok International said by telephone Thursday from Canton, Massachusetts. «Whether or not that would change when a decision is reached, I don»t know.» Suchkov»s employment agency was also reticent. «Our corporate policy is to give no comment until the court hearing is over» said Natalia Shcherbakova, a manager at Manpower familiar with Suchkov»s case.
Interestingly, Suchkov's fully declared salary of $1,265 made him the best-paid employee in the company, according to Reebok Russia»s 2003 payroll documents, which are in possession of the court pending the trial. According to copies of the documents obtained by The Moscow Times, the declared monthly wage of the company»s general director is $1,083 per month, while a senior financial analyst at the company receives $300 per month.
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