Dairygold today said that the case brought against it by former Dairygold chief executive Jerry Henchy has been settled with Mr Henchy receiving only E196,800 towards his legal costs and no damages. The case, which has been the subject of court and media reporting over recent months, was struck out by the High Court today when the parties advised Mr. Justice Herbert that they had agreed a settlement of the proceedings. The case was brought by Mr Henchy over the alleged termination in January 2009 of his E582,000 a year job, plus bonuses and allowances. He sued for some E8 million in damages, alleging that his employment as chief executive was wrongfully terminated for "spurious" reasons purporting to relate to some E159,000 being owed on his personal farm account with Dairygold. The real reason arose as a result of an orchestrated campaign involving the company's chairman, Vincent Buckley, and others, he claimed. Various members of the board were either objectively or, in the case of Mr Buckley and Dairygold chairman, Bertie O'Leary, subjectively biased against him, he claimed. Today, Dairygold informed the Court that any suggestion that the reason for the termination of Mr. Henchy's services as CEO of Dairygold was that he was engaged in wrongdoing or financial impropriety was and is without any foundation and reaffirmed that the reason for the termination of Mr. Henchy's services as CEO was not as a result of any financial impropriety or wrongdoing on Mr. Henchy's part. Mr. Henchy confirmed to the Court that the Board of Dairygold, in coming to the decision to terminate his services as CEO acted in good faith and without malice towards him. The settlement of the legal proceedings involved the payment of no sum for damages to Mr. Henchy, Dairygold and Mr. Henchy agreeing not to register or execute any costs orders in their favour and Dairygold paying E196,800 (inclusive of VAT) to Mr. Henchy's solicitors by way of a contribution towards Mr. Henchy's legal costs. Dairygold Chairman, Mr. Bertie O' Leary said: "The High Court settlement, which involved the payment of no sum for damages to Mr Henchy, has the unanimous approval of the Dairygold Board. The Society robustly defended its decision to terminate the Services of Mr. Jerry Henchy as CEO and is satisfied with the outcome of the case, which might well have continued for a further five or six weeks. The conclusion of the proceedings enables the Board and Management of the Society to focus on the continued development and expansion of the business of the Society."