Employment Law Specialists
Re-engagement order made for trader unfairly dismissed for spoofing with award of c.£1.6 million
Bradley Jones v J.P. Morgan Securities PLC – ET
Our client, Mr Jones was employed by JP Morgan as a cash equities trader.
Mr Jones was dismissed for gross misconduct in early 2020 on the basis that a series of trades he had made in 2016 constituted spoofing, which is a form of market manipulation. He brought a claim for unfair dismissal with an application for re-instatement or, in the alternative re-engagement.
The Employment Tribunal found that Mr Jones had been unfairly dismissed as he did not commit spoofing and the bank did not have a genuine belief that he had committed spoofing. It found that as a result of a scandal involving precious metal traders in the US, that led to the US Department of Justice entering into a deferred prosecution agreement with the bank, it applied a new spoofing policy that reversed the burden of proof against traders. This policy meant that trades that could appear to be spoofing would be deemed to be spoofing unless the traders could prove that they were not spoofing.
In the first decision of its kind, the Tribunal ordered that Mr Jones be re-engaged into a regulated role in Hong Kong. It also ordered that Mr Jones be awarded back pay of c. £1.6million.
The team of lawyers at BDBF acting in this case was Nick Wilcox, Clare Brereton and Hannah Lynn.
