Contracts of employment: Decision to award nil discretionary bonus was breach of contract

A contractual discretion whether or not to award an equity trader any, and if so what, bonus, which was "dependent upon individual performance", was one that had to be exercised both by reference to an assessment of performance of the trader's contract and not irrationally or perversely, holds the High Court in Clark v Nomura International plc 6.9.00 High Court. The decision not to award the trader any bonus in respect of a period in which he had made a considerable profit for his employer was plainly perverse and irrational, and did not comply with the terms of the discretion.