Merrill Lynch is trying to stop 19 arbitration claims filed by former employees who allege millions in damages from stock losses.

Merrill last week filed a series of federal court actions arguing that the arbitration claims are the very same issues that have already been litigated in shareholder lawsuits filed against Merrill Lynch as early as 2007, which alleged failure to disclose risks in mortgage-backed securities that the firm held.

The employee claimants in the arbitration cases are retired brokers and managers who worked at Merrill for many years.

“These are the men that built Merrill Lynch, and dedicated their entire careers to Merrill,” said Paul Thomas of the Thomas Law Group in Carlsbad, Calif., who represents the former Merrill employees.

In court filings, Merrill contends that the former employees are attempting to use the Finra arbitration system as a back door to bring claims that would otherwise be time-barred under statutes of limitation if heard in court.

“The time to bring claims ended long ago and, as a result, we will file motions to have these cases dismissed,” said Merrill spokesman Bill Halldin.

Merrill is now seeking injunctions to stop the arbitration proceedings.

(Merrill Lynch & Co. was acquired by Bank of America Corp. in January 2009.)

Thomas says his cases are based on the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) statutes, and allege wrongdoing that was detailed in documents released with the 2014 Department of Justice settlement with Bank of America and its subsidiaries, for $16.7 billion.

“None of the other [shareholder] cases ever alleged RICO violations,” Thomas said, adding that his arbitration claims fall within a four-year statute of limitation of when the DOJ documents were produced.

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