Jennifer Sharkey, a former vice president in J.P. Morgan’s Private Wealth Management Group was fired in August 2009, a week after she blew whistle on fraud involving one of the bank’s long term client. Sharkey made a formal recommendation that the bank end its relationship with the Israeli client as the client was not able to provide information necessary to satisfy the bank’s "Know Your Customer" requirements and she had communicated concerns of possible illegal activity. (1) As per Sharkey, the bank ignored red flags about a client's potential fraud and she believed the client might be involved in fraud or money- laundering. Sharkey adduced evidence that the client failed to comply with federally mandated due diligence protocols. The Judge had tossed the suit in 2013, stating an employee must show that he or she blew the whistle on conduct “reasonably believed’ to have violated a specific federal law mentioned in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. (2) …show more content…
The judge ruled that Sharkey did not meet the necessary whistleblower standards laid out in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that was passed in 2002. Despite Sharkey’s claim that her pleas were ignored about the potential wrongdoing, the judge stated that JPMorgan demonstrated that Sharkey’s release was due to performance related issues. The bank claimed Sharkey was fired for lying to a superior about communicating with a different client and for poor