On November 7, 2017, Mr. Wigdor won a $1.126 million jury verdict in a Sarbanes-Oxley (“SOX”) whistleblower trial on behalf of Jennifer Sharkey. After a week-long trial in the Southern District of New York, a jury found that JPMorgan Chase & Co. (“the Bank”) and Leslie Lassiter violated SOX.
Ms. Sharkey was fired from JPMorgan Chase in 2009 after she raised concerns that a client of the Bank might be involved in fraud or money laundering. Ms. Sharkey was fired approximately 1 week after making a formal recommendation that the Bank end its relationship with the client. A jury of five women and three men returned a verdict in favor of Ms. Sharkey, finding that her rights were violated by the Bank under SOX. The jury imposed an award of $563,000 in back pay and $563,000 in emotional distress damages.