Employees of India's Future Retail urge top court to clear asset sale in Amazon dispute (updated)

Future Enterprises

23/11/2021 05:56

(Adds detail from filing, context)
    By Aditya Kalra and Abhirup Roy
    NEW DELHI, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Employees of India's Future
Retail have asked the Supreme Court to allow the company to sell
its retail assets and rule against Amazon.com Inc  AMZN.O  in an
ongoing dispute, citing risks to 27,000 jobs, according to a
legal filing seen by Reuters.
    Future has failed to close https://reut.rs/3DJfYpP its $3.4
billion deal to sell its retail assets to market leader Reliance
Industries  RELI.NS   due to successful legal challenges by
Amazon, which argues that Future violated some pre-existing
contracts the two sides had struck, by deciding to sell its
retail assets to Reliance.
    As India's Supreme Court hears the dispute, a group of
Future Retail  FRTL.NS  (FRL) employees have filed a petition
urging the court to rule against Amazon, saying their
livelihoods were at stake.
    If the deal fails, Future "will be pushed into liquidation,
resulting in its 27,000 employees losing their livelihoods. The
families of employees will be on the streets," the FRL Employee
Welfare Association said in a Nov. 20 filing, seen by Reuters.
The filing has not previously been reported and is not public. 
    Future, which denies any wrongdoing, has said it would face
liquidation if the Reliance deal doesn't go through, while
Amazon has repeatedly argued that its 2019 investment into a
Future unit prohibits the Future-Reliance deal.
    The employee's filing will likely be heard on Dec. 8, when
the Supreme Court is next due to take up the matter.
    The employee association also cited salary cuts in the range
of 40-50% between April and July last year due to distress at
Future, the country's second-largest retailer, whose businesses
were hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 (Reporting by Aditya Kalra in New Delhi and Abhirup Roy in
Mumbai; Editing by Euan Rocha and Ana Nicolaci da Costa)
 ((aditya.kalra@tr.com; +91-11-49548021; Twitter @adityakalra;))