Lehman Brothers is filing arbitration claims to recover recruitment and retention bonuses paid to brokers based on the premise that they are loans that have to be repaid if the broker’s employment was terminated for any reason. So far, Lehman has been successful as arbitration panels have awarded Lehman clawbacks of $2.2 million against one former broker and $800,000 against another, according to Joseph Checkler’s and Suzanne Barlyn’s Wall Street Journal article entitled “Lehman Pursues Former Brokers’ Bonuses.”
Lehman is reportedly pursuing approximately 50 cases. Some of them involve brokers who were hired shortly before Lehman filed for bankruptcy on September 15, 2008, according to the article. After Lehman’s U.S. brokerage was bought by Barclays PLC in September 2008, many Lehman brokers lost their jobs.
Atlanta attorney J. Boyd Page observed that “Many of these brokers would appear to have valid defenses to Lehman Brothers’ claims and/or counterclaims against Lehman Brothers for things such as fraud in inducing the brokers to change jobs, fraudulent conduct that has ruined the brokers’ careers and breach of the duties of good faith and fair dealing. It is pretty ironic that Lehman Brothers, whose conduct contributed significantly to the financial meltdown and destruction of its own enterprise is now seeking to benefit from its own misconduct.”
Page Perry routinely handles a wide variety of employment law matters. The firm’s employment law services range from drafting or advising clients about employment agreements and related documents to litigating or arbitrating employment related disputes. Over the years, the firm has developed particular experience and knowledge in dealing with employment law disputes associated with the securities and financial services industries.
Page Perry attorneys have successfully handled employment law disputes involving employee bonuses and loans, constructive termination, restrictive covenants and non-compete agreements, confidentiality agreements, stock option agreements, age, race and gender discrimination, and severance packages.
Page Perry is an Atlanta-based law firm with an active practice in representing individuals in employment disputes with firms in the financial services industry. In the past several years, the firm has won arbitration award for clients in employment disputes in the amounts of $1.7 and $3.9 million. For further information, please contact www.pageperry.com.