Keays loses case against JPMorgan

A case of unlawful dismissal brought against JPMorgan Chase by the former Australian head of its corporate derivatives marketing, Colin Keays, has been rejected in the Australian Federal Court.

In handing down his ruling yesterday in the case of Colin Keays v J.P. Morgan Administrative Services Australia Ltd, Justice Robert Buchanan found there was no evidence to support a breach of contract or unlawful dismissal of Keays by JPMorgan in 2008.

Keays, who was suing JPMorgan for over $6 million, argued that JPMorgan had poached him from Deutsche Bank in 2005 with a $500,000 signing bonus and an additional $450,000 performance bonus in the first year of his contract heading the foreign exchange desk.

However, Keays testified during the trial that during 2008 his position within the company was changed, where he was moved from the public side of the business to the private side, serving only JPMorgan clients. Keays argued that this change drastically limited the customers he would deal with, thereby losing potential bonuses that were tied to revenue that he could bring in for the company.

Justice Buchanan, however, found that JPMorgan was well within its rights under its contract with Keays to dismiss him by giving him three months termination notice or pay in lieu of the notice. Justice Buchanan said the bank had stood by the terms of the employment contract.

“Mr Keays was under no obligation to accept the position at JPMorgan,” Justice Buchanan wrote in his ruling. “When he did so, it was on the terms which he had negotiated.” Justice Buchanan added that those terms included dealing with the possibility that Keays’ employment might come to an end with the company.