More than eight years after she was fired from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s private wealth management group, Jennifer Sharkey told jurors the experience was "like your whole life is taken away from you."
Sharkey testified at her trial in Manhattan federal court that the bank terminated her in 2009 for raising red flags about a client she suspected of fraud and money laundering. The experience caused her extreme anxiety and sleepless nights, she said. It has also prevented her from working in banking because of news reports about her suit, which has been delayed for years because of pretrial appeals.
"It’s just very distressing, upsetting," Sharkey testified under questioning by her lawyer, Douglas Wigdor. "Just feeling that it was all taken away from me just like that."
Sharkey claims JPMorgan Chase violated whistle-blower protections in the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act and is seeking back pay, compensation for her emotional distress and reinstatement to her job. The trial, which began Oct. 30 with jury selection, is expected to last about a week. It’s rare for a bank to go to trial on such allegations.
The bank claims Sharkey’s firing had nothing to do with her investigation of the client, a diamond-seller who is being referred to in the trial as "Client A." JPMorgan Chase says Sharkey did her job poorly and lied to a superior about communicating with a different client. Sharkey has denied the allegations.
Client A was later cleared in JPMorgan’s "Know Your Customer" process and remained with the bank.
Sharkey told the jury of five women and three men on Tuesday that she was let go after telling superiors she planned to send out letters terminating the bank’s relationship with Client A, who had about $14 million under management.
"I was fired the next day," Sharkey said.
JPMorgan Chase Defends Whistleblower Claim From Madoff Era
Michael Schissel, a lawyer for the bank, sought to undercut Sharkey’s testimony that she suspected Client A of breaking the law.