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SCMP Reporter

A tutorial school is suing its former star teacher K Oten  for damages of HK$10 million for breaching a contract he claimed  was forged.
Karson Oten Fan Karno,  better known as K Oten to Hong Kong students and who once commanded a following of 7,000 of them a month, is being sued at the Court of First Instance  by his former business partner, King's Glory Educational Centre.  
King's Glory, one of the largest private tutoring companies in the city, said it suffered losses after Mr Fan left the company, given the resources it had invested in efforts to boost his popularity.
The court heard that Mr Fan joined the company in 2002 to teach English, and was paid by way of profit-sharing with the company.
He signed a contract with the company in 2003, which was to run till 2008,  the company said. But he had breached that contract in several ways, Jason Pao SC,  the company's barrister, told the court.
While the contract had required Fan to teach only on its premises, he gave online classes in 2003 by co-operating with internet portal Tom. com, Mr Pao said.
Mr Fan also launched two publications of mock exams in 2006 without the approval of the centre, according to the barrister.
The tutor was also accused of collecting the personal data of his students, which was prohibited by the company, the court heard.  
Mr Pao said Mr Fan, who now teaches at Modern Education,  had further breached the contract by taking up a job at another school within a year after the end of his contractual relationship with King's Glory.
King's Glory had written in April 2006 to terminate its contract with Mr Fan, stating that his conduct amounted to a repudiation of the agreement. 
In response, Mr Fan challenged the authenticity of the 2003 contract, claiming that his first contract with King's Glory - signed in 2002 and expired in 2005 - was the only binding written agreement he had with the company, Mr Pao said.
Only oral agreements were made between the two parties after the contract expired in 2005 and the tutor continued to work there, Mr Fan claimed.  He said there was never a second agreement that superseded the 2002 contract, Mr Pao said.
 Based on the 2002 contract, Mr Fan contested the allegations in a letter sent through his solicitors. Among his arguments,  he said the online teaching arose from a joint venture between King's Glory and Tom.com, and that the publication of the mock exams was not prohibited by the company. 
The hearing continues before deputy High Court Judge Anthony To Kwai-fung  today. Mr Fan had earlier made a claim for unpaid profits that he said were due to him. Last year, the High Court ordered King's Glory and six related companies to pay him HK$2.65 million as his share of the profits. 
Payment has been deferred pending the outcome of this suit.



Tutorial school sues star teacher for HK$10m