Who am I?

My name is Jing Lu.

I am a 30-year old from China.

I work in marketing in the oriental food industry.

I live in London with my wife and pet dog, Mifan.

I now work for Kung Fu, who are now one of the leading wholesalers of oriental food in the UK.

What Happened to Me

In 2018, my former employer FreshAsia came after me in the High Court. They wanted me to stop working for my new employer.

This was scary, as moving jobs shouldn't mean that you should fear being brought into court.

The case

Just before Christmas last year I received a scary letter. The letter was from solicitors and said that it was from my former employer. It was going to force an "interim injunction" which would stop me working in my new job. Maybe, it would even mean that I would be fired.

Not being able to work my current visa under risk and make it possible that I would be separated from my family.

In my previous job, I had signed a contract, but it wasn't fair. It said that if I left, I would not be able to work for a competitor for 10 years!

Freshasia do not pay lots of money. If this contract was right me and other employees would be trapped into working for them forever. It's almost like modern day slavery.

I have student debts and a mortgage to pay - so not being able to work in the industry I was in would have crippled me.

I researched and found Virtuoso Legal, a law firm who could defend my right to still work and provide for my family.

A not Happy Christmas

On 18th of December 2018 - just when people are getting ready for Xmas - the legal team defended my right to work.

This was so important, because I would still have to defend the High Court claim and would have no way of getting the money to do it.

But luckily, I was allowed to work.

But it did not stop FreshAsia who continued to push for the trial.

This went on into 2019, where after a big three-day trial, it was decided that the claim would be dismissed.

You can read a summary of the decision at the bottom of this page

But sadly, this wasn't a happy end to the story.

Legal costs - Who should pay?

Following the judgment, we attended a hearing in relation to who pays the costs.

We said that FreshAsia, being wrong, should pay the costs.

The judge ordered that FreshAsia pay 70% of costs straight away, and more to be looked at later.

In the end, defending my name because of a still left me with £25,000 less than I would have if it hadn't happened.

This is truly unfair, as it puts so much pressure on me and my family and for no reason more than my previous employer not wanting me to work.

Even though I was right, and I won the case – it still feels like I have lost.

It is very unfair for someone to be threatened with losing everything they have, to win and still have this financial pain.

Any donations you have would be very appreciated.

Please support me by making a donation and sharing my page with friends and family via email or social media.

我是谁？

我叫Jing LU ，

今年30岁来自中国， 作为一个市场经理在一个东方食品行业工作。现在和妻子还有一只名叫‘米饭’的小狗在伦敦居住。  

目前我的雇主是‘功夫食品有限公司’ ，是一家在英国东方食品进出口的龙头企业。

发生了什么？

在2018年， 我的前雇主‘香源食品‘找到我并在英国最高法庭对我进行诉讼。 他们要求我停止我在功夫食品工作。

这是一个非常令人恐惧的事情， 更换工作就会面临法庭的诉讼。

这个案子

在去年圣诞夜的前夕， 我收到一封恐怖的信封。 这个一封来自我前雇主律师的信.  在这封信上， 他们声明要从法院强制执行‘庭前裁决‘ 这样会直接让我停止目前的工作。 并且它可能直接导致我在目前工作上的离职。

鉴于目前我的签证情况，不能在满足我签证要求的现公司工作， 这讲意味着，我会很大程度上会离开这个国家并且离开我的家庭。

在我前一段在‘香源食品’ 工作当中， 我签署了一个不平等的雇佣合同。 这个合同要求我在离职起10年内，不能和任何他的竞争对手工作。

与此同时， ‘香源食品’并不给予一个好的薪资。 如果这个合同是有效的， 这就意味着作为他们的雇员，将会被迫永远在一个低薪资的情况下和对方打工。 这简直就是一个新的现代化的奴役主义。

在学生贷款和住房贷款需要偿还的压力下， 在这样的情况下， 不能在这个行业工作将会直接导致我无法偿还这些费用，直接会让我流离失所。

在我的研究和寻找下， 我找到Virtuoso Legal 公司， 一个可以帮助我和我的家庭维护我合法工作的权益。

一个并不开心的圣诞节

在2018年12月18日，当各个家庭正在为圣诞节辛勤忙碌的时候， 我的法律团队正忙于为了保障我工作的权力而努力。

在这个情况下， 我不得不在英国最高法庭上进行辩护，还需要想办法筹款高昂的律师费来进行辩护。

幸运的是，我成功辩护了自己， 可以被允许接着工作。

然而， 这并没有阻止‘香源食品’继续把我推向最高法庭裁决阶段。

这是在2019年， 经过了长达3天的最高法庭裁决。 最高法庭决定控诉被驳货。

你可以在文末阅读整个法院裁决的结果。

然而， 这并非是一个好的结局。

法律费用，究竟由谁来负担？

在审判之后， 我们参加了关于费用的听证。

‘香源食品’作为过错方， 需要承担对方的费用。

审判要求香源食品立刻承担70% 的相关费用， 并在之后核查更多费用花销进行赔偿。

然而在最后， 仍旧有£25,000 的费用没有被赔偿。

这真的很不公平， 这个费用给我和我的家庭带来很大的压力和打击， 然而这一切仅仅是因为我前雇主不愿意让我继续工作。

虽然到最后， 我成功维护了我的权益， 然而我仍旧觉得我并没有得到胜利。

这并不公平， 对于一个人被威胁会失去一切，然后即便对方赢得胜利仍旧需要付出极大的费用。

如果能得到你的帮助， 这对我而言是极大的帮助。

希望您能慷慨的帮助我，并且能在邮件和社交媒体分享这个页面给你的朋友和家庭。