RBC whislteblower John Banerjee has won an employment tribunal against Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in a rare spot of negative publicity for Canada’s largest bank.

A London tribunal reported that Banerjee was unfairly dismissed, the principal reason for the dismissal being the making of a protected disclosure.

But the tribunal found that Banerjee contributed to his dismissal by 25%;  the award of compensation is subject to an uplift of 25% because of the bank’s failure to comply with the ACAS Code of Practice.

Former Citi and Barclays trader John Banerjee was headhunted to work at RBC as an emerging markets trader in June 2015. Little over a year later he was dismissed.

Banerjee submitted a claim form to the Employment Tribunal on 2 March 2017. The Claimant brought complaints of unfair dismissal, on the ground that the dismissal was automatically unfair because the reason, or principal reason, for dismissal was that he had made protected disclosures.

According to RBC, Bannerjee was dismissed due to his poor timekeeping.

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“Swept under the carpet”

Bannerjee alleged in his claim that RBC had no effective systems and controls, particularly in compliance and that important issues were “swept under the carpet.”

Employment judge Mr Justice Taylor reported that he did not consider that the Claimant’s tardiness was the principal reason for his dismissal.

Said Taylor: “I consider that there is a clear inference to be drawn that the Claimant was dismissed for making a public interest disclosure.

“I accept that, unusually, the Claimant, notwithstanding the bank’s egregious actions, bears an element of responsibility for his dismissal, because of his persistent failure to attend work on time, despite his repeated protestations that he would do so. I consider that he contributed to his dismissal by 25%.”

RBC is expected to appeal the decision.