Vietnam Airlines said a court in Rome has rejected its appeal against a ruling in 2000 which ordered the carrier to pay 5.2 million euros (US$7.6 million) to an Italian lawyer.
Although the airline has not received any official document, some sources confirmed the rejection of the appeal, spokesman Le Hoang Dung told Thoi Bao Kinh Te Saigon Online on Wednesday.
Dung said the airline would continue to do everything possible to protect its legal rights in the lawsuit brought up by lawyer Maurizio Liberati more than 10 years ago. He said the differences in the legal systems of Vietnam and Italy have made it difficult for Vietnam Airlines to pursue the lawsuit.
State-owned Vietnam Airlines signed an agreement in 1992 with Falcomar, appointing the Italian company as its ticket agent. The Italian company hired Liberati for some legal services.
In 1994, the airline received a summon from the Rome Tribunal Court with regard to a lawsuit filed by Liberati against Falcomar and the carrier, seeking compensation of nearly $300,000 for work Liberati said he had done for Falcomar.
Vietnam Airlines did not respond to the summons as it believed it had nothing to do with the lawsuit.
Following many hearings, in a verdict made on March 2000 the Rome Tribunal Court ordered Vietnam Airlines to pay 5.2 million euros to Liberati.
Since then Vietnam Airlines has tried to have the verdict overruled. It said in various statements that the ruling was not fair and was based only on what the plaintiff alleged.
Source: Thanh Nien