Former J.P. Morgan Advisor’s Wrongful Termination Case Moves Forward
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After being revived on appeal, a former J.P. Morgan Advisor’s wrongful termination lawsuit has another chance. The lawsuit has already failed to prevail twice (in arbitration and court), but the California wrongful termination lawsuit has one another shot thanks to the appeals court.
The lower court’s ruling was reversed by a U.S. Court of Appeals panel for the Ninth Circuit. The ruling was vacated and the arbitration award that denied the plaintiff’s claims was vacated. According to an October 24th memorandum, arbitrators violated the Bradley Sayre’s (the plaintiff) right to due process when they refused to postpone hearings in July 2017 after Sayre’s attorney became ill and the California-based broker requested a delay to provide care for a newborn.
This decision provides Sayre with the chance to revive the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration claim alleging J.P. Morgan Chase Bank violated labor law regulations through wrongful termination. Sayre filed the claim in May 2015 after J.P. Morgan dismissed him from his job in March 2014. He seeks over $830,000 in damages for the loss of his book of business.
The Plaintiff’s History at the Company:
Sayre, the plaintiff in the wrongful termination case against J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, joined the bank as a branch-based Private Client unit in 2011 in San Diego. Before the San Diego position, Sayre ran a La Jolla office for Edward Jones for four years. He is currently listed as broker on record with USAA Financial Advisors out of San Diego, California according to public information databases.
According to Sayre, he was told to destroy marketing materials while working for the bank. The destruction of these particular materials would help the bank avoid liability issues in connection to a federal investigation of J.P. Morgan’s sale of collateralized derivative products. Sayre felt uncomfortable with the situation and filed internal complaints about the situation. He claims his managers purposefully arranged for his firing due to the internal complaints he made about the destruction of the potentially damaging marketing material.
The decision on appeal does not address the allegations made in Sayre’s original claim, but it is notable that the appellate court vacated an arbitration award. It is not a common result.
If you have questions about how to identify wrongful termination or if you need to file a wrongful termination lawsuit, please get in touch with Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik DeBlouw LLP. Experienced employment law attorneys are ready to assist you in any one of various law firm offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Chicago.
