Sacked French trader will not sue employers

TRADER Jerome Kerviel, who allegedly cost Societe Generale bank €4.9 billion with unauthorised activities, has not begun a wrongful dismissal claim, a source close to him said yesterday.

“To say that Mr Kerviel is prepared to begin a case is going a bit far,” the source said in response to a press report.

The Times newspaper of London had reported yesterday that Mr Kerviel was prepared to lay a claim for wrongful dismissal, arguing that the bank had not demonstrated that he had done something wrong.

The source said that Mr Kerviel had received a letter of dismissal a few days after he was remanded in custody on February 8. His lawyer, Elisabeth Meyer “then sent a letter to the bank expressing his objections to the way this was done but did not lay a complaint,” the source added.

“A case might be taken to the labour court but this is not yet the situation,” the source said.

Mr Kerviel is under formal investigation, one step from being fully charged, on suspicion that he falsified documents to conceal allegedly unauthorised trading positions.

When the bank discovered its potential exposure through trading positions run up by Mr Kerviel, it immediately suspended him and rushed to close its exposure, with the approval of the Bank of France which said later that the incident had put the bank at risk.

The newspaper report said that Mr Kerviel had two complaints.

First, the losses arose only after the bank had decided to undo his positions.

Secondly, French labour law requires an employer to have a meeting with an employee before dismissal. However, Mr Kerviel is under a court order preventing him from meeting anyone concerned with the case, including managers at the bank.