Source: Emarat Al Youm — Abu Dhabi
An Abu Dhabi Family Court ordered a woman to pay AED 15,000 to her former employer as repayment of an outstanding debt, after she claimed during the proceedings that she did not understand Arabic and that she had signed a repayment undertaking under coercion while working for the claimant.
The court found that the acknowledgment was clear in specifying the amount of the debt, the parties involved, and the due date. It also noted that the defendant failed to provide evidence proving that she had been subjected to coercion.
Details of the case:
A former employer filed a lawsuit against a previous employee, requesting that she be ordered to pay AED 15,000 representing an outstanding debt, in addition to legal fees and expenses. He stated that she had refused to repay the amount despite repeated amicable requests.
The defendant did not dispute the authenticity of her signature but claimed that she did not understand Arabic and argued that she had signed the acknowledgment under pressure at the claimant’s request during her employment.
In its reasoning, the court explained that the claimant based his request on the written acknowledgment bearing the defendant’s signature, in which she undertook to repay the debt. The court noted that the wording of the acknowledgment was clear in identifying the debt amount and the parties to the transaction, and that the payment had become due upon filing the lawsuit.
The court further ruled that her claim of not understanding Arabic and that the acknowledgment resulted from moral coercion could not be accepted, as there was no evidence proving the existence of any coercion.
Accordingly, the court ordered the defendant to pay the claimant AED 15,000, along with court fees and expenses.