TAS 2008/O/1643 Vladimir Gusev c/ Olympus sarl
CAS 2008/O/1643 Vladimir Gusev vs Olympus Sarl
Related cases:
- Swiss Federal Court 4A_352/2009
October 13, 2009 - Swiss Federal Court 4A_368/2009 Vladimir Gusev vs Olympus Sarl
October 13, 2009
The case involved a Russian racing cyclist, Vladimir Gusev and a Belgian Company Olympus Sarl. Olympus hired Gusev for two years on 15 November 2007 and the contract was governed by Swiss law. On 23 July 2008, Olympus Sarl terminated the contract, alleging that a medical report seriously suggested that the cyclist had used exogenous EPO.
Hereafter the Athlete Gusev opened arbitration proceedings with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The Athlete asserted that Olympus Sarl had breached his employment contract and he requested for damages.
In this case the Panel assessed the stipulations in the Athlete's employment contract and the events that resulted in the termination of this contract. The Panel established that following the medical report about the suspicious test results the Kreischa Laboratory had recommended to subject the Athlete to further testings in order to determine that the Athlete indeed had used a prohibited substance.
Instead Olympus Sarl decided to terminate the Athlete's contract immediately. The Panel concludes that Olympus Sarl was not entitled to terminate the Athlete's employment contract with immediate effect in July 2008.
Consequently on 15 June 2009 the Panel decides in favour of the Athlete and ordered Olympus to pay damages. Thereupon Olympus Sarl's attempt to appeal this case with the Swiss Federal Court was dismissed in October 2009.
