JPMorgan ordered to pay $4M to employee it fired over $642 deli platter for the ‘Super Bowl’

A former JPMorgan broker has won over $4 million in a wrongful termination lawsuit launched over a $642.50 deli platter that the company claimed was for a Super Bowl party.

​A lawyer for Brent Ryan Bodner, a broker based in Beverly Hills, California, told People that J.P. Morgan Securities had claimed that the platter was served at a personal Super Bowl party. According to that same attorney, Marc Seldin Rosen, the platter had been purchased for a “pre-approved business meeting.”

​The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ruled that the company must pay Bodner the sum of $4,250,000 in compensatory damages, according to FINRA documents. The ruling states that the firm must pay interest on the huge sum at the rate of 10 percent each year from the date of service until the award is paid. ​

The FINRA also ruled that J.P. Morgan Securities must repay Bodner an $800 for the non-refundable portion of a filing fee. In addition, the organization recommended that the reason for Bodner’s departure should be revised to “voluntary,” and that the “Termination Explanation should be deleted in its entirety.”​

Rosen told People that Bodner was fired back in 2024, after the company raised concerns over the deli platter, which he charged to the firm, that they claimed was for a personal event. The lawyer added that Bodner’s assistant had sought approval for the food order in advance. ​

“I'm unsurprised,” Rosen told the magazine, referring to the ruling. “And I was hopeful that it would be more in line with the actual damages he sustained, but given the forum we were in, you can't disrespect that outcome.”

The lawyer confirmed that his client now works for Wells Fargo.

​However, a spokesperson for JP Morgan said that the company is “disappointed by the outcome.” ​

“We vehemently disagree with FINRA's decision and are disappointed by this outcome,” a spokesperson for the firm told The Independent. “We disagree with counsel’s characterizations of the facts and believe they are contrary to the witness testimony and evidence presented at the hearing.”​

“In every workplace in America, submitting an inaccurate expense report is grounds for termination,” the spokesperson continued. “When a company takes reasonable actions based on its investigation and submits a good faith U5 in compliance with the law, it should not be second-guessed and punished with a multi-million-dollar award.”

“An internal review found that the claimant obtained preapproval to take a “client” (the advisor’s cousin) and the client’s boyfriend (purportedly a business prospect) to dinner at a local deli,” the spokesperson claimed. “Instead, the advisor held a Super Bowl party at his home for family and friends, including the cousin and boyfriend.

“He then submitted the receipt for food from the deli for over a dozen people as a business expense,” the spokesperson concluded. “Thus, he both misstated the purpose and location of the gathering, which violated the firm’s policies.

“The advisor, as an at-will employee, was therefore terminated for breaching the company’s trust and misusing their position.”

Speaking to The New York Post, Rosen said that the paperwork for the platter had been handled by Bodner’s assistant in the same way in which she had made similar food orders in the past.​

“They weren’t hiding anything,” he said, stating that a receipt showed delivery to his client’s home. “There was nothing nefarious at all. They submitted the documents showing that it was at his house.”​

According to Rosen, the assistant coded the expense as though it had been consumed at the deli rather than delivered to Bodner’s home. However, he claims that the charge fell below the firm’s spending cap and complied with company policy at the time. ​

“It was not a Super Bowl party,” he insisted.

The Independent has contacted JPMorgan and Marc Seldin Rosen for comment.

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