Damilare Ajao claimed he was sexually harassed and assaulted by his manager, which the employment tribunal dismissed as ‘simply false and pure invention’ in 2022. The bank brought proceedings for contempt of court, and Ajao was initially sentenced to 20 months last November, in Commerzbank AG v Damilare Ajao [2025] EWHC 2904 (KB). Last week, the Court of Appeal reduced the sentence.
Philip Cameron, partner at Littler, representing Commerzbank, said: ‘This is a landmark case that could significantly affect how employees approach employment tribunal proceedings.
‘It is unprecedented for misleading or false evidence submitted to an employment tribunal to lead to a witness or a party being imprisoned. An eight-month custodial sentence is a serious outcome in contempt proceedings, which are often punished by a fine. It highlights the exceptional nature of the case and serves as the severest warning that there can be serious consequences for deliberately misleading a tribunal.’
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