Fired FX trader Perry Stimpson takes a massive swing at Citigroup at tribunal. Will he be successful?

UPDATE: Citi forex trader Perry Stimpson wins unfair dismissal case; compensation yet to be agreed

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, tribunals and litigation by FX traders in large institutions are relatively rare.

There have, as in most businesses, been some very bizzarre claims by senior executives who have been successful in bringing their former employer to book, an example being former Tullett Prebon Head of Private Equity Risk Solutions Kishore Kansal’s claim against the British brokerage that his departmental head, Neil Campbell made jibes relating to employees from the Indian subcontinent, actually claiming in his tribunal that Mr. Campbell called Asian colleagues “terrorists” and “mocked” another colleague’s South Asia accent.

This was a successful tribunal claim and Mr Kansal has now joined PEFOX as the Managing Partner. No details are known about how much he received as damages but his initial claim was for £1.5 million. However, it is understood that despite this win, the main culprit of the racism Neil Campbell still remains employed at Tullett Prebon.

Indeed, this particular case stood out as national news, and is rare indeed, as are less banal claims, which barely exist.

Yesterday, however, Perry Stimpson, an FX trader whose employment at Citibank was terminated in 2014 as a result of the investigation into the conduct of FX traders at many banks costing the firm over $2.3 billion in penalties thus far.

Taking the brave (or indeed perhaps dangerous) step of not employing a lawyer, instead preferring self-representation, Mr. Stimpson maintains that his removal from the firm’s employment was public knowledge and therefore damaging.

Citing unfair dismissal, Mr. Stimpson has vowed to ‘out’ Citibank, wishing to make public statements about what he views as matters that would expose the firm for certain practices within its FX desks that would not be favorable to the bank if they were divulged.

Citibank now has to prove in the tribunal that it acted fairly and adhered to employment law, as is the case with all lawsuits for unfair dismissal.

Representing Citibank at the Tribunal, Jerome Kemp, Citibank’s Global Head of Futures who is also responsible for the OTC clearing business testified that he had serious concerns over the descriptions used by traders, including Mr. Stimpson, used to refer to customers, which he considers to be disrespectful, as well as the se of messaging systems to provide confidential information about trades and customers in order to manipulate benchmarks.