RMJM's American dream turns sour

EMBATTLED architecture firm RMJM is being sued in the US after it failed to pay staff thousands of pounds in bonuses agreed as part of the takeover of a US firm three years ago.

• One of RMJM's most striking construction projects, the Sharp Centre for Design in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The development has won a number of top awards

Bob Hillier, founder of Princeton-based Hillier Architecture, is leading a civil case against the Scottish firm over a $664,000 (427,000) payment of a $1.5 million cash bonus pool promised to employees for 2009 under the terms of the merger.RMJM, which has been badly hit by the recession and has been accused of late payments of salaries to staff at various offices across the globe, admitted that the payment had been delayed due to a cash flow problem - but insisted the debt would be met in the "near future".

The firm has suffered the loss of a string of high-profile staff in recent months, while it last week emerged that former banker Sir Fred Goodwin - who was hired as an adviser at RMJM a year ago - has recently taken a step back from the company.

A spokesman said RMJM, headed by Sir Fraser Morrison and his son Peter, was disappointed that Mr Hillier - who sold his business for $24m at a time of massive expansion for the Edinburgh-based giant - had resorted to legal action.

"However, we fully expect the final $664,000 payment to be made in the near future and for the matter to be resolved to everyone's satisfaction," the spokesman added.

The court papers, obtained by Building Design Magazine, detail correspondence between RMJM and Mr Hillier, named as the "shareholder representative" of the employees entitled to a share of the bonus scheme, in which Sir Fraser Morrison promised last March to pay outstanding money by September - but in November, told employees the money "earmarked" to pay the bonus had not come through.

The documents also accuse RMJM of asset-stripping and "siphoning off corporate funds" worth up to $8m from the former Hillier company, which is now known as RMJM Inc. Mr Hillier also accused the company of planning to cease "most or all" of its operations in Princeton this month. It closed its Philadelphia office in June, claiming the operation had been a "project office" and was no longer needed.

But RMJM refuted the claims. The spokesman added: "Separately, the allegations of asset-stripping are both outrageous and completely and utterly untrue. In fact, the direct opposite has been the case as millions of dollars have been injected into the US business since the beginning of the recession."

In the documents, Mr Hillier also vowed to "pierce the corporate veil" of RMJM and legally name the Morrisons as the "alter egos" of the company - claiming they should be held liable for the unpaid cash.