A unit of JPMorgan Chase lost its quest to have
JPMorgan Securities "failed to establish any grounds on which to vacate the award" granted last year to Dustin B. Luckett by a Louisville, Kentucky-based panel, according to the Sept. 15 decision by District Judge Rebecca G. Jennings. The FINRA arbitrators had cited "the defamatory nature" of a regulatory disclosure alleging that the firm fired him for violating a policy requiring a client to be present for the
Jennings' decision ended a six-year saga for Luckett after the termination in 2017. During the arbitration, a former administration manager at Merrill Lynch testified that the firm had been "actively recruiting" Luckett until JPMorgan's termination showed up on his record, and a complex manager from Raymond James said the firm was interviewing Luckett and would have been likely to hire him if not for the firing by his prior firm, the ruling showed.
Two years later, Luckett filed the arbitration claim, accusing the firm of defamation, invasion of privacy, interference with prospective business expectancies and other claims. The panel awarded him compensatory damages and
JPMorgan "asks the court to review the merits of the award based on the record, eliminating every possible line of reasoning that could support the panel's award on each of Luckett's four legal theories," Jennings wrote. "Yet if any one of the theories could plausibly support the award, the court is bound to confirm it."
Representatives for JPMorgan declined to comment on the case.
In July,
