Ex-Citi trader wins unfair dismissal case

Carly McWilliams, a former Citigroup trader dismissed at the height of the slew of suspensions in the aftermath of the FX benchmark-fixing allegations, has won her unfair dismissal claim against the US bank.

She is the second ex-Citi trader to win an unfair dismissal claim. Perry Stimpson, who was dismissed for serious breach of contract after allegedly sharing confidential client information with traders at other banks, won his case in November 2015 and received £58,774 ($84,500) in compensation.

McWilliams, who worked on Citi's spot-trading desk for 14 years, was fired along with several other traders in 2014, when the bank became caught up in the FX scandal, which has cost it $2.7 billion in fines so far.

My dismissal is overwhelmingly harsh and inappropriate… I have been singled out – easy cannon fodder whilst off on maternity leave
Carly McWilliams

She was dismissed in November 2014, and filed her suit for unfair dismissal at the East London Employment Tribunal in August 2015.

"My dismissal is overwhelmingly harsh and inappropriate, given the alleged offences were nothing other than normal practices of my everyday job at the time," McWilliams said in her witness statement in January. "I have been singled out – easy cannon fodder whilst off on maternity leave."

She added that her dismissal was Citi's attempt to appease regulators, which fined the bank $322 million for its role in the currency-rigging scandal a week before she was fired.

"Citi stands by its decision to dismiss Ms McWilliams. While we are disappointed by the Employment Tribunal's decision, individual accountability is important to us and for that reason we defended the case in the tribunal. We expect our employees to adhere to the highest ethical standards and will not tolerate breaches of our code of conduct," the bank said in a statement.

Citi is currently being challenged by two other former traders, David Madaras and Robert Hoodless, who filed claims for unfair dismissal and are currently in the hearing phase.

The maximum compensation that can be awarded in unfair dismissal cases is around the £80,000 mark, unless the person is recognised as a whistleblower, in which case there is no upper limit.

So far, banks have paid out total fines of more than $10 billion in relation to benchmark-fixing claims and about 30 traders at major banks have been suspended, fired or put on leave over the past two years, following FX investigations by the US and UK justice systems.