According to Bloomberg News, Natixis SA has asked the French judges to file a $10 million lawsuit case on an ex-employee as he twisted the status of his whistle-blower reputation so that he could try and siphon out more cash from the bank.
Andre M Romain rang the alarm about a possible inside trade carried out by an executive just because his US job was put to an end by the bank, and he wanted to gain leverage over the same. This was stated by Natixis’s lawyer, Emeric Sorel. The main intention of Romain was to scare the management and get hold of and negotiate an excellent departing package. Also, he is making use of the same arguments in his lawsuit.
Sorel also said that in the current case, it is pretty clear that Mr. Romain made an effort to twist the whistle-blower status so that he could derive maximum money, as said in a Paris court hearing last week.
As given by Romain, an argument was that he was forced to leave his job when he had to face backlash from the managers when he informed authorities about a possible stock sale that was suspicious and one which the then chief risk officer carried out. He also said that he owed the cash as the bank damaged his career in finance.
Bloomberg News reports that the lawsuit makes up part of a legal dispute and has compelled Natixis to safeguard and defend itself in many legal forums. While most of Romain’s demands in court have been rejected, there are a few grievances that have hit hard on the bank. The French regulators started a probe into the allegation of the stock sale, and an effort to recoup 2.4 million-euro (equivalent to $2.7 million) is being tried out by the bank that was paid to the Chief Executive Officer, Francois Riahi.
The disclosure of the bank that there were anomalies in the calculation is carried out in the Riahi package was declared after a criminal complaint was lodged by Romain in Paris, citing instances of misappropriation of corporate assets.
Sorel had not accepted any retaliation internally from Natixis and stated that Romain’s series of legal procedures was a reaction when the bank refused to shake hands when he wanted to settle the matter amicably in 2018. However, Natixis did not agree to comment on the suit.
Romain lives in Austin, Texas, and said that his former employer had sidelined him, leaving him devoid of any career progression options when he enquired about the stock sales. The bank made him go his US job and entrusted him with a portfolio of clients in France with practically manifested no potential. He was also deprived of the bonus that constituted at least 50% of his total paycheck.
He also said that the treatment meted out to him made it inevitable that he had to leave the job in the middle of 2019 and is therefore seeking 9 million Euros or $10 million so that his damaged finance career can be adequately compensated. He has also demanded 170,000 Euros to cover up the bonus not paid to him in 2019, among the other claims.
In the lawsuit, judges in Paris will decide whether he must be compensated since his departure was not expected and was due to unfair means as he had twisted the case to seek benefits.
