Sanctioned Russian billionaire forbidden from paying London housekeeper
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A sanctioned Russian billionaire has won an employment tribunal against his housekeeper after a judge ruled that paying her would be a criminal offence.
Dominika Kozlik was on maternity leave from her job at Mikhail Fridman’s £65 million London home when he was sanctioned by the British Government following the invasion of Ukraine.
The 59-year-old Ukrainian-born, Russian-Israeli tycoon, who is worth an estimated £11 billion, had his bank accounts blocked as a result of the sanctions.
A ruling from the High Court subsequently made it illegal to pay his housekeeping staff.
This resulted in Ms Kozlik’s monthly maternity payments stopping, before she was eventually let go from her post at Athlone House in Highgate in March 2022.
She sued Mr Fridman for unfair dismissal relating to pregnancy, sex discrimination and breach of contract, but a judge ruled she was simply a “victim of processes”.
The billionaire is one of the co-founders of Russian conglomerate Alfa-Group and bought Athlone House in 2016.
Ms Kozlik started work as a housekeeping assistant at the house in March 2021, having worked as an agency worker for Mr Fridman since 2015.
In November 2021, she started her maternity leave and intended to return to work 12 months later and it was agreed she would be paid a discretionary sum of £1,500 per month.
However, sanctions were imposed on Mr Fridman in March 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, resulting in his Barclays bank account being blocked.
As a result, Ms Kozlik complained to her manager, who informed her the salaries would be late as the business was “subject to sanctions” and awaiting a licence to continue providing services.
The hearing was told: “Under the Russian regulations, individuals may be ‘designated’ by the secretary of state and made subject to sanctions, including economic sanctions.”
Ms Kozlik could not be paid by Mr Fridman “without [him] committing a criminal offence”, as a result of the “Russian regulations”.
She argued he should have appealed the decision of the High Court.
In June 2022, after contacting HMRC about maternity pay, she was told that it appeared her employment had ended.
Ms Kozlik complained to bosses and said this termination had been against her will while she was on maternity leave.
Elizabeth McNeill KC said: “It was absolutely clear that the reason why [Ms Kozlik]’s employment was terminated, and her maternity payments stopped, was the impact of the imposition of sanctions under the Russian Regulations and not any of the protected characteristics she relied on.
“She accepted that [Athlone House Ltd] could not make any payments to her without committing a criminal offence but considered that they ought to have appealed the High Court’s decision.
”[Ms Kozlik] is indeed the victim of processes that are out of her control.”
Fridman has also been hit with sanctions from the US and the EU.
Although Athlone House was raided in December 2022 by more than 50 officers from the National Crime Agency, the investigation has since been closed.
