Dany Bahar, controversially sacked as CEO of Group Lotus in June, has filed a claim against Lotus and its owner DRB-Hicom for wrongful dismissal.

Bahar is seeking GBP6.7m from Lotus for alleged unlawful early termination of his employment.

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“Dany Bahar was dismissed after an investigation into his stewardship of Lotus,” DRB-Hicom said in a Kuala Lumpur stock exchange filing. “We believe we have acted properly at all times,” it said, adding that DRB and Lotus would ‘vigorously’ oppose and defend the claim.

Bahar was fired from Lotus following a complaint from DRB-Hicom about unspecified concerns over his conduct.

Bahar joined Lotus from Ferrari in 2009 with an ambitious plan to propel loss-making Lotus into the supercar league on a five-year timescale with a raft of new models shown at Paris in 2010. However, the change of ownership brought the strategy into review amid rumours that DRB-Hicom could sell Lotus.

DRB and Lotus will file counter-claims against him, yesterday’s announcement said.

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