Ex-FXCM employee seeks update in harassment lawsuit as NY Court remains silent
The lawsuit brought by Alon Nachmany, a former systems engineer at FXCM’s New York office, has been pending for over three years.
The persisting silence of the New York Southern District Court in the workplace harassment lawsuit brought by Alon Nachmany, a former employee of FXCM Inc, now known as Global Brokerage Inc (OTCMKTS:GLBR), has prompted the plaintiff’s counsel to file another request for an update with the Court. The request was submitted earlier this week.
Let’s recall that Nachmany claims that, during his tenure at FXCM, he was subjected to a multitude of demeaning and derogatory comments and actions that specifically attacked his national origin, religion, sex, as well as constantly being subjected to harassing behavior that was offensive.
On January 12, 2016, Alon Nachmany filed a Complaint against the defendants – FXCM Inc, Ryan Leonard, and Seth Lyons. On April 14, 2016, the defendants moved to dismiss and strike. That motion is still pending before the New York Southern District Court.
From July 2, 2012, to September 2, 2014, Nachmany was employed by FXCM as a Systems Engineer. During all relevant times, Seth Lyons worked at FXCM as a Senior Systems Engineer. At all relevant times in this matter, Ryan Leonard worked at FXCM as Director of Productions Engineering and subsequently Chief Information Officer.
According to the allegations, Leonard and Lyons mocked Nachmany during a period of tumult in the ongoing Israeli/Palestinian conflict, when rockets were being launched in the Israeli territory.
Further, Leonard posted a derogatory message on the white board that was centrally located in FXCM’s space IT Department. The message read: “Alon is a dick. Why won’t he shut the fuck up? That is all asshole.” This posting remained for nearly two months in the face of Nachmany’s requests for the posting to be removed.
Plaintiff was integral in FXCM maintaining its operational capabilities during Super Storm Sandy. With the storm bearing down on New York, FXCM closed its doors on Monday, October 29, 2012, at 8pm, and Nachmany was instructed to continue to work from his home. However, due to the entire system losing connectivity, Lyons told Nachmany, via phone, to return to the office. Despite the peril to his health, Nachmany tried to reach FXCM’s office. Nachmany actually traversed several blocks on foot, literally holding on to street signs to avoid being blown away.
Upon arriving at the office, the plaintiff attempted to enter the building but could not enter because the lobby was flooded. The next morning, at around 9am, Nachmany went back to the office, again at the instruction of Lyons. However, he could not access FXCM’s office.
For the next several months, Nachmany was integral in setting up FXCM’s Data Center in New Jersey as FXCM’s temporary headquarters.
One week after a meeting between Eduard Yusupov, Leonard and Nachmany, on September 2, 2014, Nachmany’s employment contract with FXCM was terminated.
The plaintiff is seeking, inter alia, compensatory damages in the amount of $400,000.
On June 18, 2018, the counsel for the plaintiff filed the first request seeking an update on the status of the defendants’ motion to dismiss/strike. Then, another request was filed on December 13, 2018. A third request was submitted on April 24, 2019. As there has been no response to the request, the plaintiff’s counsel now files another request for an update. This motion has now been pending before the court for more than three years.
