The Royal Bank of Canada acted in a “totally unacceptable” way when it fired a whistleblower without due process on the pretext he was too often late for work, a U.K. tribunal judge has found. The judge said RBC shut down a whistleblower complaint of a “box-ticking culture” at the bank's operations in London in which many employees were attesting that they had read RBC policies and practices to ensure financial regulatory compliance when they had not done so. The judge characterized a global RBC manager’s invitation to whistleblowers to step forward as “fine but empty words.”

RBC said it "strongly disagrees" with the ruling by the U.K. employment tribunal and is considering an appeal of the case in which foreign exchange dealer John Banerjee seeks £13 million ($17 million) compensation for unfair dismissal. Banerjee’s disclosure “was clearly in the public interest,” says the May 21 ruling by Judge James Tayler. Banerjee does “bear some responsibility” because he was often late for the 7 a.m. start time at work, but it was not the primary reason, he said. The award amount was not announced with the ruling. But the judge said RBC’s “egregious” actions warrant an increase in the award of 25 per cent, the maximum allowed for failure to comply with the U.K.’s code of conduct for handling disciplinary and grievance situations in the workplace. He noted the bank had been castigated several years ago for “unfair and brutal” firing practices after abruptly dismissing a woman without notice or appeal rights. No fair process Judge Tayler said RBC dismissed Banerjee “without the slightest attempt to adopt a fair process in circumstances where they have been told by the Employment Tribunal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal that to do so is totally unacceptable.”

Hired in June 2015 in London, England, to build out the bank's business in emerging market currencies, Banerjee was a successful trader, making millions for the bank. He was dismissed in August 2016. Banerjee claimed at the hearing that he had blown the whistle on a series of concerns, including a loosely worded code of conduct for traders, a laissez-faire attitude among his colleagues towards regulatory compliance and an alleged bribe by a senior manager to cover a trading loss caused by a Hong Kong colleague’s error. The judge rejected the bribe allegation and said the public interest disclosure that “rang alarm bells” within RBC management was that of failure by bank employees to read and understand compliance policies. Royal Bank of Canada #whistleblower in U.K. unfairly dismissed, employment tribunal judge rules. @RBC in UK may appeal. #banking via @NatObserver “If bankers are not reading important policies and so may breach regulatory requirements, that is of the utmost public interest,” he wrote. “The public have the greatest interest in banks avoiding a further financial crisis in which the general public would suffer, as they did in the last.” In an emailed statement to National Observer, a spokesman for RBC in the U.K. said the bank may appeal. “We strongly disagree with the Tribunal’s decision and are considering an appeal. RBC takes its duties as an employer very seriously and encourages a robust compliance culture, which includes promoting the freedom for employees to speak up and blow the whistle," Adam Lister, associate director of corporate communications. "RBC is reviewing the judgment carefully to see whether there are any practical steps it should take to make improvements to any employment processes. It would be inappropriate to comment further whilst the proceedings are ongoing.” 'Bit of a blowhard' During Banerjee's time at RBC, staff were encouraged to speak up and report wrongdoing by Jonathan Hunter, the bank's global head of fixed income, currencies and commodities. He delivered a presentation at a company town hall meeting that told staff to "challenge the status quo," and that "don't ask don't tell will not be tolerated".

After this presentation, Banerjee wrote to Hunter, detailing his concerns about the risk of non-compliance if staff did not know procedures and rules. Hunter “disingenuously” thanked Banerjee, the judge said, while he had called him “a bit of blowhard” during a meeting with senior managers. While a number of managers led him to believe his complaint was taken seriously, Banerjee’s manager was instructed to start documenting his late attendance and the bank "shut the complaint down," without telling him and fired him, Judge Tayler concluded. "The Claimant did ‘tell’ the bank that staff were taking a couple of minutes to attest that they had read policies vital for regulatory compliance when they had not read them carefully, or at all; and did ‘ask’ the bank to investigate," he wrote.