The Abu Dhabi Family Court has ordered a former employee to pay AED 15,000 to her former employer after finding that she had signed an acknowledgment and undertaking to repay an outstanding debt. The defendant argued during the proceedings that she did not understand Arabic and that she had signed the repayment document under coercion while working for the claimant.

The case began after the employer filed a lawsuit seeking to recover AED 15,000, which he said represented money owed by the former employee. He also requested that she be held responsible for court fees and legal expenses, stating that she had failed to return the amount despite repeated attempts to resolve the matter amicably before filing the case.

During the hearing, the former employee did not deny that the signature on the acknowledgment belonged to her. However, she argued that she did not have sufficient knowledge of the Arabic language and was therefore unable to fully understand the content of the document she had signed. She also claimed that she signed the repayment undertaking under pressure and coercion at the request of her employer during her period of employment.

In its reasoning, the court stated that the employer based his claim on a signed acknowledgment in which the defendant expressly undertook to repay the debt. The court found that the wording of the document clearly identified the amount owed, the parties involved in the transaction, and the circumstances establishing that the amount had become due, supporting the employer’s judicial claim for repayment.

The court further ruled that the defendant’s claim that she did not understand Arabic, as well as her allegation of moral coercion, was not sufficient to invalidate the acknowledgment without evidence supporting those claims. As she failed to provide proof that she had been subjected to coercion, the court ordered her to pay AED 15,000 to the claimant, in addition to court fees and expenses.