Banker accused of ‘emotional terrorism’ awarded €1.7m

A BANKER fired over claims of “emotional terrorism” and verbal “waterboarding” of his team has been awarded €1.7m (£1.4m) for unfair dismissal.

Omar Alami, who earned around £1m a year running a trading desk at BNP Paribas, won his case against the French bank after it fired him in 2019 following complaints from colleagues about his outbursts on the trading floor.

A Paris employment tribunal ruled yesterday that Mr Alami was unfairly dismissed but further details on the ruling are not expected for a number of weeks, Bloomberg reported.

One employee in Mr Alami’s team said they were left so traumatised by his behaviour that they accused him of “emotional terrorism”, which left them with a “feeling of waterboarding”.

Mr Alami was also accused of describing a subordinate as “useless” and “incompetent” in front of colleagues over a €800,000 mistake that turned out to be a false alarm.

The Paris-based financier denied the accusations in a hearing last month, arguing that one of his responses was merely “lively”, while claims from others were anonymous, which made them difficult to counter.

“I was never humiliating, I was never insulting or aggressive,” he said.

Aurelie Fournier, a lawyer acting for BNP, said that the bank had noticed issues about Mr Alami’s communication style and sent him for coaching lessons.

“It’s quite rare for people on trading floors to speak up,” she told judges.

This is the latest lawsuit revolving around behaviour in the finance industry as workers clash over what they deem to be acceptable office conduct.

In a separate London case, a UBS trader claimed the Swiss bank has a “toxic” work environment where people shout at staff across the trading floor. The bank’s lawyers said a pressured atmosphere “is the unavoidable reality of the work of a City trader”.

A spokesman for BNP Paribas said: “BNP Paribas reserves the right to appeal this decision. BNP Paribas does not tolerate behaviour contrary to the respect and dignity of individuals at all levels of the organisation.” Representatives for Mr Alami did not respond to a request for comment by Bloomberg.