Whistleblower Michael Woodford sues Olympus for $60m Mr Woodford's claims for unfair dismissal for whistleblowing and discrimination are due to be heard from midday on Monday at an east London tribunal. There is no limit on damages awards for discrimination. Mr Woodford - who declined to comment ahead of the court hearing - is expected to sue for up to 10 years" lost earnings - an estimated £38m. An award on such a scale is likely to hinge on a judgment that Mr Woodford could never again find work as the chief executive of a global company. A pay-out of even a fraction of that size would dwarf previous tribunal records. Legal experts have suggested the case may not be heard at all as the Japanese company stands to gain little from details of the scandal being aired in court and could yet settle with Mr Woodford. "Two-thirds of such claims are settled or withdrawn before the tribunal makes a judgment," Jo Keddie, a partner at law firm Winckworth Sherwood, told Reuters. If the case does go ahead, Mr Woodford's first challenge will be to prove that it can be heard within the UK. The initial five-day hearing scheduled for this week is to determine whether it falls within UK jurisdiction. "The tribunal will be carefully scrutinising where Mr Woodford was contractually employed and whether he was considered to be working in the UK at the time of his dismissal," Ms Keddie said. If the case were to be thrown out on jurisdictional grounds, Mr Woodford could still bring a defamation suit in the UK High Court, and could sue Olympus for breach of contract in Japan. He is understood to have had 44 months remaining on his contract at the time of his dismissal. Mr Woodford campaigned to regain control of the Olympus board following his dismissal but abandoned those plans in January, citing the emotional toll it had taken on him and his family and the failure of Japanese institutional shareholders to back him. In April, Mr Woodford published an account of his departure in Japan called Terminated. He is working on an English-language version, titled Exposure, due for publication in November. Born in Liverpool, he grew up in a house with no indoor plumbing. He is married to Spanish wife, Nuncy, with whom he has two children.