Fired JPMorgan employee who claimed wrongful – Business News
A $642.50 deli platter ended up costing JPMorgan Chase $4.25 million.
A Wall Street arbitration panel ordered the banking giant to pay veteran Beverly Hills, Calif., broker Brent Ryan Bodner tens of millions in damages for his firing final yr over an expense-account submission linked to a business assembly at his home.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued the ruling final week.
Brent Ryan Bodner was awarded $4.25 million by an arbitration panel. Hanndout
Bodner’s lawyer instructed The Post on Thursday that JPMorgan mischaracterized a February 2024 gathering the broker held as a “Super Bowl party” at an eatery when it was really a pre-approved business assembly at his home involving a shopper and a potential shopper.
The legal professional, Baltimore-based Marc Seldin Rosen, stated the disputed expense concerned a platter that was delivered to Bodner’s home for the confab and ordered a few days earlier than the massive sport.
Rosen stated Bodner’s assistant sought approval for the assembly earlier than the Super Bowl and ordered the platter upfront, including that the paperwork was dealt with the identical approach she had made related food orders previously.
“They weren’t hiding anything,” the lawyer stated, noting that the receipt confirmed supply to Bodner’s home. “There was nothing nefarious at all. They submitted the documents showing that it was at his house.”
Rosen stated Bodner’s assistant coded the expense as if the food had been consumed on the deli moderately than delivered to the home, however argued the charge fell under the firm’s spending cap and complied with company coverage on the time.
JPMorgan used the $642.50 platter as a pretext to fire his shopper, Rosen alleged.
“It was not a Super Bowl party,” he instructed The Post. “They tried to mischaracterize it as a Super Bowl party on their nickel to disparage him.”
Bodner’s Baltimore-based lawyer instructed The Post that JPMorgan mischaracterized the gathering as a “Super Bowl party” when it was really a pre-approved business assembly at Bodner’s Beverly Hills home. The above image is a stock photograph. Jenifoto – stock.adobe.com
Bodner spent more than a decade registered with JPMorgan Securities and its affiliated entities.
But Rosen alleged JPMorgan had already determined to fire him earlier than its deli-platter investigation was full, claiming “the die was cast” and that inside employees moved “like vultures on a carcass” to carve up Bodner’s shoppers.
The lawyer stated an inside message urged the bank believed Bodner would “pick up his book of business and leave” earlier than a scheduled interview, prompting JPMorgan to assign what Rosen known as a “retention team to divvy up his book of business before the interview even happened.”
JPMorgan pushed back on Rosen’s claims.
“We disagree with counsel’s characterizations of the facts and believe they are contrary to the witness testimony and evidence presented at the hearing,” a JPMorgan spokesperson instructed The Post.
“In every workplace in America, submitting an inaccurate expense report is grounds for termination,” the JPMorgan spokesperson added.
“When a company takes reasonable actions based on its investigation and submits a good faith U5 in compliance with the law, it should not be second-guessed and punished with a multi-million dollar award.”
News of the ruling was first reported by Barron’s.
FINRA — the self-regulatory physique that oversees US broker-dealers and runs the securities industry’s necessary arbitration discussion board for disputes between companies and brokers — additionally advisable that Bodner be allowed to expunge from his regulatory report the termination language tied to his May 2024 firing.
The panel additional directed that the explanation for his departure be modified to “voluntary” and that the termination rationalization be deleted completely.
“We vehemently disagree with FINRA’s decision and are disappointed by this outcome,” a JP Morgan Wealth Management spokesperson instructed The Post.
JPMorgan issued a assertion saying it “vehemently” disagreed with the ruling. Christopher Sadowski
FINRA’s five-page ruling didn’t spell out the underlying info of the dispute intimately or clarify why arbitrators sided with Bodner, who now works for Wells Fargo.
The hefty damages include a 10% annual curiosity from the date of service till the judgment is paid in full.
The arbitrators additionally ordered JPMorgan to reimburse Bodner $800 in submitting charges.
The panel denied all different claims, together with Bodner’s request for punitive damages.
Bodner initially sought $15 million in compensatory damages and one other $15 million in punitive damages within the arbitration, in keeping with FINRA.
The dispute was heard earlier than a three-member FINRA panel in Los Angeles over a number of listening to classes spanning March and April.
The bank has not publicly disclosed whether or not it plans to problem the award in courtroom.
Under FINRA guidelines, arbitration awards are usually remaining within the FINRA system, although events can search restricted judicial review below the Federal Arbitration Act.
The award additionally places JPMorgan on the hook for many of the case-related discussion board charges and listening to prices.
