BNP Trader Fired For “Terrorizing” His Underlings Wins $1.8 Million After Being “Unfairly Dismissed”

A senior trader at BNP Paribas was awarded nearly $1.8 million in lost compensation and bonuses – even after being fired for alleged “terrorizing” his underlings. 

The trader, Omar Alami, was formerly head of BNP’s equity derivatives sales for Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg, according to BNN. 

A Paris employment tribunal found that despite this, he was “unfairly dismissed”. Alami’s lawyer claims the decision vindicates her client and that he did “nothing wrong”.

The lawyer, Coralie Ouazana, said: “Omar Alami is very satisfied with this decision which clears his name after a three-year fight. Extremely serious accusations had been brought against him without any proof, accusations which he has always disputed.”

BNP fired him in 2019 after an internal report revealed that he had called a trader “useless” in front of colleagues after a the underling made a potential mistake. BNP found that the incident “wasn’t an isolated outburst” and employees had accused him of “emotional terrorism”. 

The lawsuit is similar to one taking place in London against UBS Group, in that it is helping to find the boundaries of what is acceptable workplace behavior and what constitutes a “toxic environment”. 

Alami had originally sought a payout of $4 million after being dismissed. He admitted in court that he “was lively” with the employee, but said he was “never humiliating” and “never insulting or aggressive”.

He disputed the findings of BNP’s internal probe, noting that comments made against him were all anonymous, making it tough for him to defend himself against them.