Bank of America fired HK banker to avoid paying bonus, judge rules

Bank of America maliciously fired a distressed-debt banker to deprive her of a bonus, a Hong Kong judge ruled, awarding Sunny Tadjudin US$500,000 after a seven-year legal battle.

Tadjudin's manager, John Liptak, was determined to fire her despite her improvement in a performance plan, and his malice can be attributed to the bank, High Court Judge Anthony To said in a 141-page ruling issued on Wednesday. Still, Tadjudin will receive only a fraction of the amount she requested.

Tadjudin, 51, who worked for the bank's Asian distressed-debt trading group, had sought bonuses totaling US$3.7 million after being fired in 2007 following what she said were irrational and arbitrary performance ratings. To ruled against her claims for higher 2005 and 2006 bonuses than she received.

"It may be argued that a prestigious bank as Bank of America would not do anything so mean or so lacking in commercial sense as to dismiss a performing employee to avoid paying her bonus," To said. While that was not the intention of senior management, "that was what the bank did through the hands of John Liptak and with his intention", the judge said.

To awarded Tadjudin, who has separately brought a sexual discrimination claim against the US-based bank, 85 per cent of her legal costs.

Liptak, who was fired in 2009, had denied engineering Tadjudin's dismissal.